The Lord said to love Him with all our hearts and soul. The soul comprises of the mind will and emotions. Habbakuk 3:17-19 says Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, though the labour of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold And there be no herd in the stalls .Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet ; And He will make me walk on my high hills. Instead of succumbing to the barrenness and hopelessness Habbakuk chose out of his own volition,an act of his will to rejoice in the Lord. We do not have to be at the mercy of our circumstances. The Holy Spirit can fortify us in such a way that we are enabled through our will to remain connected to Christ as our Vine. The Lord says remain in me and I will remain in you. The Lord gave this command being cognizant of the fact that we will face disappointments, heartache, pain and everything else that would give us reason not to remain in Him. However, He also expects us to choose Him in spite of it, and we can. Here are other instances where the will was used to remain in the Lord:
This one thing that I do, forgetting the things that are behind and pressing on to the high calling in Christ(Phil 3:13)
More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ( Phil 3:8)
Though he slay me yet will I trust in Him( Job 13:15)
I will stand upon my post and see what He will say to me( Hab 2:1)
I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth(Ps 34:1)
But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more( Ps 71:14)
I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living(Ps 27:13)
I will walk in my integrity(Ps 26:1)
These are but a few illustrations given to us in scripture concerning the participation of our will in following and remaining in the Lord. The Lord is sovereign however we are expected to do our part. There are instances where He moves on our behalf however there are times where we have to choose Him as He has chosen us.