In the previous post on the Lord’s Prayer series, I talked about letting go of our own kingdoms, our goals, our visions, and letting Christ’s kingdom enter our hearts, and spread out to those around us. Today I’m going to look at the part of the prayer that says, “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.”
I think we when pray this, we sort of go over it without much thought as to what we’re actually saying. “Your will be done.” That means we’re giving God everything. After giving the Lord our kingdom, our lives, we now need to follow Him, and Christianity is a journey unlike any other. It has its times of trial, and times of joy and victory, but the one thing the Christian walk is not is easy.
When I pray this, I think of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, sweating blood, praying, “Father, if it is possible, take this cup from me, but not my will, but yours be done.” If gives me great encouragement to know that even Jesus struggled to submit to the will of God.
You see, God’s will sometimes requires us to do things we may not want to do, and sadly some Christians aren’t ready to follow God no matter where He takes them. They say, “I’ll follow you anywhere Lord,” and then bail out when the Lord tells them to do something that requires some suffering. For example, Peter when he denied Christ three times.
I want to give you an encouragement today. In the prayer, after we pray, “Thy will be done,” it then goes on to say, “on earth as it is in Heaven.” Wow, lets stop right there. If Jesus said that God wills for earth to be as Heaven, then it must be worth it! Heaven is the place where every good thing rests. Love, joy, satisfaction, peace, fulfillment, pleasure, everything good. “On earth, as it is in Heaven.”
So what is God’s will? That’s another question people ask, yet the answer is right before their eyes. God’s will is to bring Heaven to earth. In Heaven, everything is Christ, and everything is good, that’s what God’s will is; that we might allow Christ to consume every part of our lives, including the way we speak, the things we do, and the way we treat others. It’s hard to submit to God’s will because a lot of times we don’t want to do that. We don’t want to love every person we see. Some people are just unlovable.
But I see a different story when I see the cross.
So to go out today, I encourage you to make the decision (along with myself) to submit to the will of God. It may be hard, but it’s more than worth it in the end to see those pearly gates open.
Our Certain Joy 