After the disciples asked Jesus how they should pray, He gave them what we now call “The Lord’s Prayer” as a model. I doubt that Jesus meant us to recite this prayer verbatim but this is what’s done in many Christian churches every Sunday during worship. If you are like me, I’ve repeated this prayer in unison with other believers so many times that I have to consciously think about the words as I say them. The words can be profound if we really contemplate their meaning. When I pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” I am taken aback by the magnitude of what I am actually requesting. Am I truly open and willing to allow this to become a reality?
Allowing God’s will to reign on earth necessitates that our individual wills are relinquished and made secondary to His. This is counter-cultural in a world where individualism is actively promoted from infancy. Society teaches us to be “Me” focused rather than “We” focused. Inherent in this way of thinking is the need to be in control. Opening ourselves to God’s will, means letting go of this control. There is an old saying that captures what must happen for this to occur. “If God is your co-pilot, then change seats!”
I will be the first to admit that I want to be the chief pilot of my life. My parents will attest to this. As a small child, whatever we were doing, I would say, “I want to do it myself.” It didn’t matter if I was too small, I wanted to try anyway. I wonder sometimes if God looks at me as my parents would and says, “I really could help you with that, but if you insist, go ahead and try it your way first.” How much grief would I have saved myself if I had listened to my parents and to God first? Isn’t it human nature to have to learn things the hard way?
The need for control is an area I’m sure that I will struggle my whole earthly life to overcome. I have the desire to let go of control but then the micromanager in me comes forth to defeat my efforts. The times have been few when I have been able with God’s help to calm my inner controller and submit to His direction. No one really likes the word “submit” but that is really what has to happen for God’s will to be done in my life. I have to clear out my agenda and ask God an open-ended question: “What do You want me to do, Lord?”
Now I will warn you that it is very dangerous when you ask God this question and truly mean it. He will send something or someone your way that is absolutely amazing and generally completely out of your comfort zone. You must be ready to respond at a moments notice. The opportunity God places before you may pass if you don’t act quickly. I recall many lost choices over the years that I know were “God opportunities”, but I let them pass me by. I remember the invitation I turned down years ago to join a medical ministry in Jamaica led by a doctor and his wife who happened to be staying in the same Bed and Breakfast as my husband and I while we were vacationing in Kingston. I will never forget the chance given me by Padre Carollo to adopt an Ecuadorean orphan but I just didn’t think I could do it at that time in my life. Where would I be now if I had acted on these gifts placed before me?
Over my lifetime, I have said “no” to God’s direction many more times than I have said “yes” to Him. The wonder of it all is that God doesn’t give up on me. He continues to place His opportunities in front of me. As the Lord says in Jeremiah, “I know the plans I have for you.” He knows where He wants me to be and has given me the talents and patience for the tasks at hand. His plans are always perfect. They are for my benefit as well as the benefit of all those around me. When I have made the decision to say “thy will, not mine, be done,” phenomenal things have happened. When God placed people in my pathway who led me to Shadrach, a great adventure began that I would never have imagined on my own. I was definitely pushed out of my comfort zone but God was with me all the way. I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.
Often I hear people say that they aren’t sure what God’s will is for their life so they don’t know what direction to move. I believe they will find their answer if they simply move forward in faith with what they do know. God will be faithful to reveal to them their direction as they need it. In my experience, God is continually throwing opportunity in my path and it is up to me whether to respond or not. The key is to keep trying your best to live a life of grace and love right where you are and be open to God’s Spirit. His will then has the opportunity to intersect with yours and something beautiful will be created. But you must have the courage to say yes.
These opportunities to do God’s will, most of the time will be small tasks. He may ask of you to offer a kind word or a smile to a stranger, a visit to a shut-in, or a meal for a homeless person. If you have eyes to see and ears to hear, you will recognize God working all around you and you can join in His work. This is God’s will. As it says in the book of Micah, “What does the Lord require of you but to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.” So every day be faithful in the small tasks. Someday God may ask you to work with Him on a large task. When Cori Tenboom and her family humbly worked in their clock shop in Holland, faithfully following God’s will in their lives, they were suddenly asked to step out for a large and dangerous task. They hid their Jewish friends and neighbors to save them from the invading Nazi’s. They risked their lives being obedient to God and eventually Cori, her father and her sister were sent to the concentration camps. Cori was the only survivor. Her story is chronicled in her book, “The Hiding Place.” Day by day, Cori and her family led lives of love and grace. When God’s call came to hide Jews in their home, they were ready to answer “yes” to Him.
Most of us will never be asked to risk as much as Cori Tenboom to carry out God’s will in our lives. But you never know what the future may hold. Be faithful in the little opportunities put in your pathway to show mercy, to act justly and to partner with God in His work. In this way, God’s will is truly accomplished on earth in every small act of love shown through the lives of each and every believer.
