Not My, But Thy Will Be Done

Reading: Matthew 6:9-10 "This, then, is how you should pray--"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name; your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

As I write this morning, one of my brothers is in surgery for a heart catheterization, and another friend in is in the middle of a dialysis session suffering with a severe headache. The roads are still a mess from the ice and snow that came piling in late last week. My mom's telephone is still out. Wouldn't it be easy to just say, "God--fix all this. Make it better"?

That's just not the way it works; and, as I grown older, I'm actually glad that it doesn't work that way. Why, you ask? Why not just get things put back into the order we want?

I have found that our ideas of "fixing" things are highly limited. We are finite creatures with finite thinking. God's way is always better--more thought out and, of course, perfect. He is infinite. If I want my brother's heart catheterization to be "fixed", my way of thinking would be one of ignorance in that area. I'm not a cardiac physician--I have no idea of all of the intricacies of this type of procedure. Similarly, if I think I could "fix" my dear friend's dialysis session so she feels better, it would be fleeting at best. I'm not a nephrologist--I know very little about how the kidneys work (or don't work). Add to this list my lack of knowledge of how to best deal with icy highways or malfunctioning phone lines. It makes me very humble and full of gratitude that God is in control.

Will my brother's procedure turn out as I would like? I don't know that. But I do know that whatever happens, it truly is in God's loving hands. Will my friend's kidneys ever function again on their own? I don't know that answer, either. But once again, there are no better hands in which she can be than God's. The good Lord will watch over our roadways, and my mom's phone will be repaired in good order.  In the meantime, He has blessed us with capable workers in each of these areas as well as surrounding us with good people who work hard to fill in the momentary gaps.

As difficult as it is for us, once we learn to pray not my, but God's will be done, life does become far more comforting and pleasant. The relief that all is not up to us and our limited skills, knowledge, and means to keep things going is a blessing indeed.

Peace be with you.