Thought for Today
Isaiah 1:16 . . . remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, 17 learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.
Micah 6:8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Luke 10:27 "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."
Mark 3:35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother."
What is the Will of God? Whether you accept the scientific dating of the age of the Earth at 4.45 billion years, or you prefer the dating of Creation by Bishop James Ussher to have been on October 22, 4004 BCE, ever since the beginning, people have been asking, “What is the will of God.” Homo Sapien first emerged according to scientists between 200,000 – 300,000 years ago. After all that time, people still seem to wonder, “What is the will of God?”
“Deus vult is a Latin expression meaning ‘God wills it.’ It was used as a battle cry by Christian Crusaders in the 11th century and is strongly associated with the Princes' Crusade, which was responsible for the Siege of Jerusalem in 1099.” (www.thoughtco.com) What is it that God wills? Does God will that some of God’s children will kill some of God’s other children?
“Inshallah , also spelled In shaa Allah, In sha Allah, Insya Allah, and İn şa Allah, is an Arabic-language expression meaning ‘if God wills" or "God willing’.” (en.wikipedia.org) What is it that God wills?
How often do any of us use phrases about God’s will when what we really mean is our own, individual will? Do we confuse what we want with what we (should) know that God wants? Is it our (my) will or God’s?
Genesis 4:9 Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" He said, "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?" Surely, Cain was not confused! Certainly, Cain knew that was a rhetorical question, the only answer to which could be, “Well, duh, YES!”
One of the best books I have ever read on this topic is The Will of God, by Leslie D. Weatherhead (1944, Whitmore & Stone). It is a collection of 5 talks on the will of God given by Rev. Weatherhead to his congregation. In the book, he writes about God’s Intentional Will, God’s Circumstantial Will, God’s Ultimate Will and Discerning the Will of God. We tend to use the phrase ‘the will of God’ to cover several different situations. The discussions in this book helped me clarify my own understanding of God’s will.
As a Reformed Christian, I first look to the Bible as my source for theological understanding. I believe the Old Testament prophets Isaiah and Micah offer us insight into the will of God. I believe Jesus’ words above offer us insight into the will of God. Maybe those Crusaders should have read, “Matthew 18:14 So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.”
We pray about the will of God each week during worship when we say, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” When we (I) pray those words, how often do we (I) stop to think about what God’s will actually is?
We also sometimes sing about God’s will, whether or not we realize it when we do so. One of my favorite hymns is They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love. It is God’s will that we all be “one in the Spirit . . . one in the Lord.” It is God’s will that we “walk with each other . . . walk hand in hand.” It is God’s will that we “work with each other . . . work side by side.” It is God’s will that we “guard each man’s dignity and save each man’s pride.” It is God’s will that they will know we are Christians by our love.
Remember, in the Bible, words like ‘they’ and ‘we’ mean everybody, all of us. Those who look, sound and think like us . . . and those who don’t. All means all, everybody.
What is God’s will? Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with God. Love God. Love each other. Prove to everybody that we are Christians by our love. All means all.
Stay safe, prove your faith by how you live your life, trust God,
Pastor Ray