Thy Will Not My Will 

by Eddie Turner

Christmas is just a few days away and I was thinking during my pray time about the phrase, "Thy will be done." How many times do we say this but when we ask that our Lord's Will be done, do we really understand the weight that these words carry?

We the angel Gabriel came to Mary and told her that she would conceive in your womb and bear a son and she would name Him Jesus. This would have been a lot for her to wrap her mine around. She was a single young girl and I am sure that she thought "What will people think? What will Joseph do?" Despite all this we her answer in Luke 1:38 "I am the Lord's servant, Mary answered, May your word to be be fulfilled."
Without any reservations she declared "Thy will be done."

When God tells us to do something we can be assured that a blessing will follow, but sometimes His will comes with a personal price tag. Then the question is raised, Are we willing to invest ourselves and follow God's will? Mary was not interested in her reputation, Joseph's response  or personal comfort she replied, "May your words be to me be fulfilled."

Max Lucado poses the question in his book, "It's Not About Me", "What would happen if we all took our place and played our parts? If we started living like "Son" reflectors rather than individual stars and suns? If every person's priority became a divine pursuit, not a performance?" But you say, "But what if?" Yep, that is the problem for us. The BIG, What If?

I do not know how many blessing I have missed over my 60 years because I said "What if?" or "I have to do this? Christ made it clear that there was a price to pay to follow Him but what of the return on our investment? 

John Rodman wrote in his internet article about the earthquake in Haiti, "On January 12 a 7.0 Richter scale earthquake struck the impoverished Caribbean nation of Haiti, bringing widespread death and destruction to the western hemisphere’s poorest nation. The earthquake killed at least 200,000 people, injured at least 300,000 others, leveled at least 250,000 residencies, and destroyed or severely damaged at least 30,000 commercial structures. It was Haiti’s largest and most destructive earthquake in more than 200 years." Rodman continues, "The Reverend Sam Dixon travelled the world to further Christ’s mission. He was in Haiti on January 12 to find ways to improve health services for the poor people there. Rev. Dixon’s body was pulled from the rubble of what was the Hotel Montana in Port-au-Prince, 55 hours after the earthquake on January 12. He was 60."  When God told him to go to Haiti and work to improve their health care and he died in an earthquake. Sam Dixon pay the ultimate sacrifice.

Sam Dixon left behind family and friends and a legacy of helping people. His death I am sure was a shock and surprise to family and friends but not to God. Nothing happens to us that has not already passed through the hands of God and NOTHING is a surprise to God.

This is your challenge, right now as you read these words, Will you question the will of God? Will you attempt to calculate the return on your investment? Doubt, questions and fear do not build faith. There must be simple trust, the trust of a child. When our father's held out their arms and said, "Jump, I will catch you." We did not doubt or hesitate we jumped into his arms and felt the joy of his love.

Mary believed and exalted God by her actions and the Savior of the world was born. May we all during this Christmas season develop the faith and jump into the Father's arm and say, "Thy Will Not My Will, Be Done."

Bibliography

 Lucado, M. (2004). It's Not About Me (p. 173). Nashville: Integrity.

Rodman, J. (2014, June 1). Christian Missionaries in Haiti Who Made the Ultimate Sacrifice. Retrieved October 10, 2014, from https://www.npfunds.com/about/