“Not my will, but thy will be done.”
It’s a phrase I’ve heard a million times before and if I’m honest, I think I’ve diluted the power of the phrase by sheer usage of Christianese verbiage. It’s become so easy for me to spout off, Whatever the Lord wants and wills is what I want. But if that statement is true, I wouldn’t fall down on the floor like a two year-old having a tantrum at nap time every time the Lord closes a door.
This past Sunday night in a chapel full of people, we spoke honestly about how our Western ideology can creep into our theology. Prone to Veruca Salt Syndrome (I want it NOW, Daddy!), we hold on to entitlement or right over surrendering to the will of God.
If you have ever treated God like a genie to grant wishes or a Superhero to change situations, check out the example of Jesus Christ in the garden of Gethsemane. Thanks to Mariners Church, the message is posted online HERE. Join in as we go through Mark 14 and John 18 and the obedience we are called to follow.
[Side note: Ignore that they spelled my name wrong. It happens EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. My husband is on staff and they still mess it up. It’s Olthoff, bro. Olthoff. It seems like I’m still having problems with people pronouncing my name.]
Is it true always that God’s will is unaltered? We always want to have good things in our life but still we go through some tribulation why does this happen?
James 1:17 says Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
So what ever good comes our way is from God, But what if we always get some bad things like losing job, financial crisis, marriage break up? Do we have to face these in this world yet we don’t will to handle such in spite of believing in Jesus as Lord and Saviour.
Is it God’s will for us to pass through the bad times?