Did you know that before God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God told them to eat abundantly of every tree in the garden? In Genesis 2:16, the Hebrew is actually eat eat, or eat abundantly. The author emphasizes that God’s first concern is that the humans are free to eat with joy because they have everything they will ever need.
If they don’t trust God and God’s will, however, they may eat of another tree. If they think they can do it better according to their own will, they may do so. In Genesis 3, they do exactly that, eating from the one tree that declares that they would rather do it their way.
It’s interesting because the very first thing that happens is they feel shame and attempt to cover themselves up. Earlier, when all was according to God’s will, Genesis 2:25 tells us that they “were both naked, and they felt no shame.” Shame is the sense that there is something in us or about us that is unlovable. We don’t want others to fully see us or know us because we don’t think we are worthy or deserving. This is fundamentally a break down in our relationship with ourselves which causes us to put up barriers and keep others at a distance. Which of course causes a breakdown in our relationship with others as well.
After Adam and Eve determine it’s better to do things their own way, they can no longer live with themselves or one another as they did before. Immediately after this, however, they also hide from God and then God reveals that the creation won’t function for them as it was intended to either. Essentially, all of their significant relationships that were created for their thriving fall apart as soon as they take control.
Only God’s will can bring about justice for all people and all things.
Reconciliation of All Things
The love of God, however, wouldn’t let that be the end of the story. Humans may have chosen to do things their own way according to their own pride and selfish desire, but God loves them so much that God went about fixing all these relationships. We see this in God’s call to Abraham and the promise to bless the world through him, the Exodus when God frees the people from slavery and shows them a new way to live, and ultimately in Jesus when God joins humanity to live, die, and resurrect so that the end of the story can be the reconciliation of all things.
See, when we pray for God’s will to be done, this is what we are praying for. The reconciliation of all things. Our relationships with God, others, ourselves, and the creation. This is what Paul declares in Colossians 1:19-20 where he writes, “for God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”
God’s desire is for us to thrive again. In order for that to happen, however, it cannot be our will being done. Only God’s will can bring about justice for all people and all things. When God is creating the world in Genesis 1, God calls is good over and over again. God’s creation was intended to function in such a way that it is good for all people, animals, plants, and relationships. Whenever we take over, however, we may do things that are good for some people and some things, but it’s almost always at the expense of someone or something else. God, however, desires justice, love, and full life for everyone.
When we pray for God’s will to be done and kingdom to come, we are inviting God to bring about the reconciliation of all things around, in, and through us. We are proclaiming that our way doesn’t work and we trust that God’s way truly is good.
I have come to realize that we can’t truly hand over our will to God of our own power.
Our Struggle to Submit
The trouble is, this is easier said than done. We like to hold on to control, even if it’s just a little bit. I have discovered in my own life that when I pray for God’s will to be done, there is still usually some sort of caveat. There is some way I would still prefer for things to be done my way or for God to listen and make God’s will fit mine. I desire for God’s will to be done, but may not right now or maybe not in a way that doesn’t get me exactly what I want.
I have come to realize that we can’t truly hand over our will to God of our own power. I think we are simply incapable of doing it 100%. Our sinful nature will always grasp at a little bit of control. The beauty is that God knows this and God helps us.
Gazing Upon Jesus
John 3:14-15 says “just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” The Gospel writer is referencing an incident in the book of Numbers 21 where the Israelites were being bitten by snakes. God tells Moses to put a brass snake on a pole and lift it up on a pole. When someone who had been bitten by a snake gazed upon the pole, they would live.
Simply returning to God with this prayer, with this desire, no matter how broken and partial it is, is an offering that God accepts.
Similarly, John says Jesus must be lifted up. This is a fascinating comparison. If the mere gazing upon the snake would heal people, then John is saying that the mere gazing upon Jesus will heal us of our sins. What he is saying is that we can’t truly give up our will of our own, save ourselves, or take all the necessary steps of our own power. But if we trust that God has offered salvation in Jesus, if we take the step to gaze upon Jesus, to turn our face toward Him, God will heal us.
This is really good news. What this means is that while we cannot fully give up our will, that we will always struggle with wanting to hold on to control or offer conditions to God, God accepts our gazing upon Jesus, our simple statement for God’s will to be done and kingdom to come, as an invitation to make it happen in our life. Simply returning to God with this prayer, with this desire, no matter how broken and partial it is, is an offering that God accepts.
This is what Thomas Merton prayed in his famous prayer from his book Thoughts in Solitude.Merton prayed,
“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that, if I do this,
You will lead me by the right road,
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore I will trust you always
though I may seem to be lost
and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”
God’s Will
Can you imagine a world where God’s will is being done more and more? Justice would reign. Peace would be the norm. Love would abound. Hope would thrive. All people would grow to love God, themselves, one another, and creation.
But I believe that the desire to please you
Thomas Merton
does in fact please you.
This side of Jesus’ return we won’t fully see such a sight. We can get glimpses, however, when God’s light shines through us. When we pray for God’s kingdom to come and will to be done, we submit to God’s authority and power. We submit to the one on the throne of the universe who is our Father and worthy of all of our praise. We humble ourselves to accept and trust that God desires what is good for everyone and ask for God to make God’s Kingdom a present reality in and through us.
Brothers and sisters, may you desire for God’s will to be done and kingdom to come in and through your life. God desires for you to be whole, to thrive, to experience life as you were created to. No matter how broken, lost, or confused you may be, may you gaze upon Jesus and offer these simple words to your Father in heaven who loves you and is always with you.
Grace and Peace
*All Bible Verses NIV
