God’s Will Be Done

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” Matthew 6:9-10, NKJV.

There are times in our lives when we don’t understand why God allow certain things to occur. There are also times when we may have sick family members and we pray for them to get healed, and they don’t. Have we ever considered that death is the best healing? Of course, this is for those who die in Christ.

In the model prayer that Jesus, our Lord and Savior, set forth for us to pattern our prayers after, He instructed us to pray in this manner, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” When we reach a level of spiritual maturity, as Christians we begin to understand that God is sovereign. And although we may not like everything that goes on in our lives, we must trust Him that He knows what He is doing. There may be a mother on her death bed whom a child doesn’t want to let go, but they belong to God … we all do. Even within ourselves, we may be facing a terrible situation where we see no way out, but God is The WAY. As Jesus stated, He is the door. “Then Jesus said to them again, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep,’” John 10:7, NKJV.

There is nothing too hard for God. In recognizing this, allow the peace of God (the peace that passes all understanding: Phil 4:7) to rest upon your hearts, praying that His will be done just as Jesus prayed. “He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, ‘O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will,’” Matthew 26:39, NKJV.

Are you facing a difficult situation, lacking the understanding of why it’s happening? It is not for us to know the answer to everything. God’s ways are not our ways nor are His thoughts our thoughts. We must cast our cares upon Him for He cares for us.

Pray for God’s will to be done. It produces the best outcome no matter the situation.

The Secret Place

“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust,” Psalm 91:1-2, NKJV.

Focal Scripture: Psalm 91

This Psalm speaks directly to those who trust in the Lord. And I believe it also speaks to those who need to trust in the Lord; those who may have been searching for a way out of their situations and circumstances, but too afraid to admit that they need help.

Psalm 91 opens with an affirmation of faith: “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” The word dwells means to live in, reside in, or stay in. It describes a place that you would rest in, a place that is synonymous with home. And for the writer to go directly from dwell to secret place prompts the reader to think of a place of safety, especially when the word refuge and fortress is used to describe God. My husband was in the military twenty years of his life and I’m sure there have been times when either he or fellow soldiers had to retreat to military bunkers or bomb shelters. Those shelters or bunkers provided safety from the outside chaos. This is what it is like when resting in God.

This particular Psalm goes on to describe how God is worthy to be trusted. There are references made of how He delivers and protects: “Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler[a] and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday,” verses 3-6.

The way God protects is not true with any other being. God is the only One who can deliver and protect the way that He does. As human beings we may have good intentions, but our strength is limited. God is omnipotent. There may be times when we want to help a family member or friend out of a bind, but cannot. God is there, the ever present help, in our times of need. “For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone,” verses 11-12. God provides us with guardian angels.

We must be mindful that this protection does not apply to everyone. This protection comes because we acknowledge His name. He places His protection over us because we place our trust in Him—not a job, spouses, or parents.

“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name,” verse 14.

Acknowledge God no matter where you are or who you may be around. He is not to just be tucked away whenever we think we need Him, but to be reverenced at ALL times. We trust Him to deliver us from our troubles. Can He trust us to acknowledge Him?

God is The Source

From the beginning of time, God has been making provisions for the inhabitants of Earth. Even before we were ever created, God made sure that we had everything that we’d ever need which was all in Him. He created the heaven and the earth. He spoke into existence light in which we are able to see. He placed food in the sea and herbs upon the earth for us to eat. So why do we worry about what we think we don’t have?

“And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?” Matthew 6:28-30, KJV.

Just pray and trust God… Often, this is much easier said than done. What makes it difficult or challenging? Well, when in the midst of holding a child that may be dying in your arms—that could make it challenging. Or when hungry and there’s no food in the house or money in your pockets—that could make it challenging. But God said His word would not return unto Him void, that it will accomplish that thing in which He sent it to do (Isaiah 55:11). Why does faith shrink in times like these? God tells us to take no thought, wondering, what we will eat, drink or be clothed. He knows that we need these things. So, He instructs us to seek His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these other things will be given to us.

Let us not deceive ourselves into thinking that our spouses, jobs, or government checks are our source. Those are just resources that God uses to get to us what He already knows that we need. Let us remember, God has been making provisions for us ever since the beginning of time.

God is The Source.

Recommended Reading: Genesis 1, Matthew 6:25-34

Faith

“For we walk by faith [we [a]regulate our lives and conduct ourselves by our conviction or belief respecting man's relationship to God and divine things, with trust and holy fervor; thus we walk] not by sight or appearance,” 2 Corinthians 5:7, AMP.

Things may not always look like what God has promised, but if you could see it, that’s not faith. We may go through trials and tribulations, but that does not mean that God has forgotten about us. “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy,” 1 Peter 4:12-13, KJV. It is important to stand on the word of God and not the word of man. Man will have you going in so many directions that they themselves may not even follow, but our loyalty is to be to God.

God has clearly spoken into my spirit today that I am to have faith in Him, no matter what others may say. I am to have faith in Him regardless of the opinions of others. I am to have faith in Him, casting my cares upon Him for He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). I thank God that He looks at the heart, extending unmerited favor upon our lives—His grace. I thank God that He loved us so much that He gave His only begotten Son so that we can have everlasting life—Salvation. I thank God for His Holy Spirit who leads us into all truth—Revelation. I thank God for being God—Awesome above all things.

Hunger for His Presence

Earlier this year, the passage of Psalm 63 was posted. Today, I look at this same division of Psalm, keying in on verses 1 and 2: “O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.”

As noted in the book of 1 Samuel, David was constantly at battle. It seemed a normal occasion for him to not only be fighting, but also persistently seeking God for guidance. As I read 1 Samuel 30, the sixth verse jumped out at me, “And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.”

In the midst of turmoil, David encouraged himself in the Lord. He didn’t focus on the problem, rather on the One who is able to solve the problem. In Psalm 63, David makes it abundantly clear where our focus should be (as do our Lord and Savior makes clear throughout the Gospels in the New Testament). It should be on God. God provides all that we’ll ever need. Retribution should not be our center of attention when someone wrongs us, “…for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord,” Romans 12:19, NKJV.

We are to encourage ourselves in the Lord, our God, the One true and living God. We are to have a sincere longing for His presence. Sometimes I feel as if my words can’t express the gratitude I have for how God loves us so, but in essence that’s normal. If I had ten thousand tongues, I couldn’t thank Him enough. God’s continued grace and mercy deserves continued honor and praise! He is excellent, wonderful, majestic, and WORTHY to be praised.

Seeking a sincere relationship with Lord blesses a person beyond measure. When in the presence of the Lord, nothing else matter because you have all that you’ll ever need.