A young child clings to life. He has endured months of chemotherapy. His tired little body is shrinking every day and life is being sapped from his tiny frame. We’re told to ask that God’s will be done. Yet what is His will? Is it the answer we want to hear? Is it the promises He has already kept? Is it because of duty and obligation? Is it an act of faith?

A young father sits at the wheel of his car. He fears getting out and having to tell his wife and family that he’s lost his job, that there will be no Christmas this year and no special vacations. The job market looks bleak and still he’s told to rely on the will of God. Does he then pray for a new and better job? Does he lay his requests before God with confidence? Will he trust that God will answer his prayers?

A woman discovers that her husband has been cheating on her. She blames herself for not being adequate. She trembles at the thought of losing him as her husband and the father of her children. She wonders how she will survive without him. Jesus tells her to pray for God’s will to be done. Can she expect a miracle? Will her topsy turvy world return to normal and he’ll forget about the other woman? Will he realize that his adultery is against God’s commandments for his life? Will she accept what God has in store for her?

An elderly woman fears she has the COVID19 virus. She lives alone, but this means she will even be more alone. Having to quarantine for two weeks will be difficult. Will anyone care? Will she feel good at the prospect of dying? Will her fears of an empty home and empty heart continue to haunt her? Will she be wrong in longing for death? Will she see fit to pray for the will of God?

How many times have we prayed vigorously for God’s will to be done, when what we really want is for our needs to be taken care of? We aren’t praying for a Godly outcome, but a human want or petition. We are not letting God do what He does so well. Who do we think we are? We can’t dictate what God has in store for us. We have no idea what will happen tomorrow or a year from now. We can’t even predict hour to hour.

Our God is inconceivable in His mercy. He knows before we do what will happen to us in the next year. He is able to look ahead and see the future, because He’s already planned it out to the last detail. His power to know all, to cover us with his enduring love, to use our difficult obstacles to make us stronger is far greater than we can imagine. He is God. He is perfect. He knows the plans He has for us and they are to prosper us in every way.

We are faced with troubles every day. Isn’t it so much easier to rely on our most powerful God to manage our lives for us? When things become seemingly insurmountable, He will provide an answer for us. When it looks like the world will soon crumble and blow away like dust in the wind, He will be beside us. When we lose hope in our country, our elected officials, our own ability to voice our thoughts, He will strengthen us and give us hope.

All we need to do is ask that His will be done.