I just ordered my official replica Sword of Ibelin from the movie The Kingdom of Heaven.  Apparently the sword is a limited edition and almost every where that I looked, they were out of stock.  Finally found one, the last one they said (can you say 'sucker'). 

Bailion, who receives this sword from his father in the movie, has become a sort of icon to what I would hope my life would look like.  From the first time that I watched the movie, immediately I was struck by his story of redemption, restoration, and then walking in the very thing that he was created to do.

A few months ago, I was at a Wild at Heart Boot Camp, and during one of the sessions, we were instructed to ask God what he thought of us, who we were, what our truest name was.   I have done this before, God has spoken before, and I am getting a good idea of who I am.  So I guess I really did not expect to hear anything different.

I decided during this particular session to stay in the meeting room.  As I asked God this question, perhaps the most important question we will ever ask him if we are to know our place in the battle, he directed my eyes to the swords on the stage.  I felt an almost uncontrollable force walking me to the stage and picking up one of the swords.  It was the sword of Ibelin.  As I held it and looked at it, a surreal experience came over me.  I was caught off guard, I was almost breathless.  And I knew that I was in a holy place.  I knelt with the sword and just allowed the love and affirmation of my Father to surround me in wave after wave.  And as I sat there, I began to speak.  I asked God if this was real, if he really had called me as a knight, to fight for his kingdom.  I asked if this ministry that I was starting really did have his blessing.  And at that, he directed me to an inscription on the sword.  It said OEVS LO VVLT.  I realized it was Latin, but had no idea what it meant.  Coming home I did a search.  It means:  The Lord Wills It! 

Wow, what a gift.  God telling me that my future is in his will.  Now I know that many have used 'his will' to justify some pretty awful things.  The Kingdom of Heaven movie demonstrates some of those times in the crusades.  But that does not discount the fact that God does have a will, that he wants us to know it, and that we can have access to that knowledge.  Paul encourages us to 'not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is' (Eph 5:17), and to the Romans he writes 'to be transformed by the renewing of your minds.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is -- his good, pleasing and perfect will.'  (Rom 12:2)

This is where I want to live the rest of my days, in this place of God's will.  And not just in generalities, but in specifics.  In the small details as well as the big.  In the difficult as well as the easy.  It is only at this place that I find myself experiencing that Life that Christ said he came to set me free to live.  It is here that all else makes sense.