Thy Will Be Done

In Christian circles, the phrase “God’s will” is thrown around quite frequently.

For starters, there’s the ever popular Lord’s Prayer (here in the good ol’ King James Version):

            “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

              Thy kingdom come, thy will be done

              On earth as it is in heaven…”

Go to any hospital, sit in any waiting room long enough, and you will undoubtedly hear someone pray something like this:

            “God we just ask that, if it’s Your will, You would bring healing…”

Perhaps, it’s a cancer patient hoping for a test result to come back with good news.

Maybe, it’s a parent helplessly watching a sick son or daughter and not being able to do anything to make their child better.

Of course we want God to heal the person, to snap His fingers and make everything good again.  We would assume that is what God wants too.  So, why then, does God not always answer the way we want?  Why does His will not always include healing?  To us that would obviously be the best outcome, so why did God have something different in mind?

I don’t know.

But, with the Lord’s prayer engrained in our brains from childhood, many Christians, at whatever stage in life we may be, pray very much the same way, whenever we are faced with any type of decision to make.

            “God, please, help us to do what You want.  Guide and direct us.  Show us Your will for our lives.”

In each instance, we God followers are doing our best to do what God wants, to seek His will for our lives. We might word it in different ways, but we are all praying for God to make His will known, to guide us and give us clarity and peace of mind in the decision-making process.

There’s the new college graduate considering where to apply for a job. 

There’s the married couple trying to decide if now is the right time to start a family and have a baby.

There’s the family contemplating going overseas to serve God as full time missionaries.

There’s the pastor seeking God’s direction for the church community.

Then, there’s the high school senior trying to figure out where to go to college and what major to choose.

I remember being there, waaaaaaay back in the day (has it really been over 10 years since I graduated from Berean?!).  My fellow classmates, all of us being such good little Christian boys and girls, were right there with me, stressing about this life-changing decision that would most likely factor into who we would marry someday, what career we would have, where we would live, and so much more.  What if we screwed up and made the wrong choice?  What if we went to the wrong college or chose the wrong major?  Would we miss out on all that God had planned for us?  Would we forever be out of “His will” for our lives?!  Talk about a high pressure situation.  This one decision would forever impact us for all eternity…or so it seemed at the time!

           

Thankfully, we had a wise teacher named Bob Clark.  Mr. Clark worked into his lesson plans a unit on understanding  God’s will, and ironically enough, he taught this unit around the time when we were busy filling out college applications and anxiously waiting to hear back from our top choices to learn if we had been accepted or not. 

He took the dry erase marker and made a small dot, the size of the marker tip, on the white board.  God’s will, he explained, is NOT like this tiny little dot.  We don’t have just one choice as we seek God’s will for our lives.  If we chose to go to K-State instead of KU, we wouldn’t forever be out of God’s will and never be used by God again to accomplish His plans and purposes for His lives.  Or if we decided to major in business and not youth ministry, we wouldn’t be limited to serving God in just that one particular area for the remainder of our time on earth. 

Mr. Clark then went on to cover the white board in little dots.  Next, he drew a big circle around a majority of the dots, leaving just a few “out of bounds.”  He reminded us that as long as we make choices that are in line with God’s Word, we are living in obedience to Him.  And if we are obeying Him, we are carrying out His will for our lives.  The circle, then, represented God’s will, and the dots inside were all good choices we could make that would “keep us in God’s will” for our lives.  What a relief!  One wrong decision at this crossroads of life didn’t set us forever on the path of doom and destruction, with no opportunity to take a turn and change our course of direction.

That illustration has stuck with me all these years.  I think of it almost every time I hear someone mention that they are seeking God’s will for their lives, praying for His direction, and waiting for a clear indication of what they are supposed to do at that particular time.  You see, we don’t stop making decisions after we graduate from high school and head off to college.  Oh no, the decision-making has only just begun!

Like right now, for example.  We are presently praying fervently for God’s will to be done in our lives as we have put our house on the market and are looking to move into the community where Lawrence teaches school.   We really, truly feel as though He has led us to do this, burdening our hearts with the need for these students to know Jesus personally and grow up learning how to love Him passionately and live boldly for Him so that they can in turn make Jesus known to their families, their classmates, their neighbors, and ultimately to the ends of the earth.  We stepped out in faith, putting the sign in our yard and trusting God to provide all that we needed to make the move.  He did.  All seemed to be going fabulously, as just four days later, our house was SOLD!  Furthermore, the very house we wanted was available, at a good price, and the contract was signed for us to move forward with that as well.  And then yesterday happened.  The buyers for our house decided that a crack in our wall was just too much.  They walked away, saying they didn’t want our house after all.  In turn, we had to cancel the contract on the house we had planned to buy.  What went wrong?  Did we hear God wrong?  Were we not in His will?

I don’t think so. 

We acted in obedience to what we felt God was calling us to do.  And so, I am certain we were, and still are, in God’s will for our lives.  Granted, I have no idea how all of this is going to play out.  I don’t have all the answers.  More questions than anything, really.

BUT, as I have spent much time in prayer the past 24 hours, contemplating what God is doing and how He is going to accomplish His plans and purposes, whatever they may be, I have come across numerous verses reminding me of what God’s will for my life is, no matter what my circumstance or situation.

Romans 12:2, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing, and perfect will.”   

So, what pray tell, is God’s good, pleasing and perfect will?  Evidently, God knew that we would ask Him that question, and so He scattered the answer throughout His Word.

1 Thessalonians 4:3, “It is God’s will that you be sanctified…”

Sounds pretty nice.  God’s will is that I be sanctified – transformed, made new, becoming more like Him day by day.  Yeah, I like that idea.  A lot.  Tell me more.

1 Peter 2:15, “For it is God’s will that by doing good you silence the foolish talk of ignorant people.”

Looks pretty manageable.  God’s will is that I do good.  I think I can handle that, for the most part.  What else you got for me?

1 Peter 3:17, “For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.”

Um, wait a second.  Suffering.  For doing good.  Not exactly what I had in mind. 

What’s that you say?  There’s more.

1 Peter 4:19, “So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.”

This is not turning out to be what I had in mind.

Huh?  You weren’t done yet.  Okay, (big sigh) let me have it.  Tell it to me straight.

1 Thessalonians 5:18, “Give thanks, in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Well, isn’t that fitting?  God’s will is for me to give thanks.  Thanksgiving is just days away! 

Last night, in light of the approaching holiday, our topic for the Ponca and Beyond Bible study was being thankful.  We read verses like:

Psalm 100:4, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name.”

Psalm 106:1, “Praise the Lord.  Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.  His faithful love endures forever.”

Both verses brought songs to mind.  Which I started singing at Bible study.  I am still singing the songs today.  And, as usual, I have the radio playing as I go about my day (I don’t do well with absolute silence and “have” to have the filler noise).  Funny, how despite my lack of musical talent or ability, God uses songs to speak to me, to remind me of who He is and how He is working in my life…all the time. 

Like, right now, this song just came on K-Love.  “Only One Thing Remains” by Jesus Culture.

        

Searching for that song, I found this one.  Same band.  Very similar message.

God’s love never fails.  It never runs out on me.  No matter what my circumstance, God doesn’t change.  Nor does His love for me.  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Knowing that, I must decide to trust Him, whatever my situation.  I don’t have to be scared, worried, or afraid.  Yes, I took a leap of faith, believing that He would catch me.  Right now I feel more like I am free falling, hurtling towards jagged rocks below.  BUT, I must remember that I am on a bungee cord, one that will never break, and that this will be the greatest thrill of my life.  I have to remember that I can take Him at His Word.  Like the Daily Verse reminded me this morning, “This God – His way is perfect; the Word of the Lord proves true; He is a shield to those for all those who take refuge in Him.” ~2 Samuel 22:31

That made me think of the passage in Isaiah:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

    neither are your ways my ways,”

declares the Lord.

“As the heavens are higher than the earth,

    so are my ways higher than your ways

    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

As the rain and the snow

    come down from heaven,

and do not return to it

    without watering the earth

and making it bud and flourish,

    so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

    It will not return to me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire

    and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

You will go out in joy

    and be led forth in peace;

the mountains and hills

    will burst into song before you,

and all the trees of the field

    will clap their hands.

Again, so fitting to where I am at in life.  LOVE how God knows what’s on my heart and mind.  LOVE how He speaks to me about those very things.  LOVE how He helps me refocus, to fix my eyes on Him, not the wind and waves around me. 

So, I may not like how things have turned regarding our house situation.  I may not understand how this is all part of God’s plan, how this will accomplish His purposes.  I may not be able to see God’s will for my life from start to finish (thank goodness, as I would probably turn and run in the other direction if I did!).  Really, there’s quite a lot I may not like or understand or see at this very moment.  One thing I know for sure, beyond a shadow of doubt, though is this: 

“He who began a good work in me will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Hmmmm, that sounds like sanctification.  Didn’t I read a verse about sanctification being God’s will for my life?  Yes, yes I did.

1 Thessalonians 4:3, “It is God’s will that you be sanctified…”

Well, then, I guess I am right where I am supposed to be, smack dab in the center of God’s will.  And for that I will praise and thank Him.

2 Corinthians 2:14, “But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of Him everywhere.”

No matter where I live, no matter where I call home, that right there is my prayer, my goal and desire above all else: for God to use me, however He pleases, to make His name known.