From the Pulpit: God's Will keeps us safe

By: 
Pastor Thomas Walker, Heritage Lutheran Church

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)

The battle of wills begins very early in life. The world is full of attractive and exciting things. But at the very start it is difficult for a toddler to tell the difference between a bright new toy and the fire burning in the fireplace. Both the toy and fire look pleasant, interesting, and fun. Their attraction draws the toddler equally. But one fits within the parents’ will and one does not. The bright new toy is intended for the child’s enjoyment, the fire is not. The toy is safe. The fire is dangerous. The parent knows the difference, but the child must learn the difference by bending his or her will to what the parent wants. This bending of the will is not an easy matter. It involves conflict, disobedience, and punishment.

When we pray for God’s will we are admitting that it is we live our lives in great danger. Actually, we face three great enemies that are all bent on doing us in. The first we call Satan. We must be careful how we teach children about Satan because today’s world disguises him as a scary Halloween monster. Satan is scary, but not in that way. He is not the star of a horror movie. He is a hunter. He hunts down awakening faith in the hearts and minds of any children of God. He cannot stand to see us believe in God so he attacks with flaming arrows of doubt and adversity the minute we start to seek God’s will for our lives. His purpose is to discourage us from doing God’s will and to convince us that we are happier ignoring what God wants done.

The second enemy is the World. This is much like what a toddler faces in a room full of shiny, attractive, and dangerous things. The World wants to draw us away from God’s will by attracting us to toys that will eventually destroy our bodies and souls. Enslavement to our work, overly passionate hobbies, addictions, money, fame, and the sort are the ways the world seeks to draw us away from God’s will. The world’s will is that we burn up in this life without hope in Christ, without joy in the assurance of eternal life, and without charity toward others. 

The final enemy lurks right inside us. We can call it “our sinful nature.” It is the same passionate self-centeredness that shouted “NO!” when our parents told us what to do as toddlers and we ran away from them. That part of us is alive and well every day of our lives. That part of us is an enemy that turns us in on ourselves, trying to be our own little paper god. A paper god that tries to push our real heavenly father out of our lives with resentment and suspicion about his good and gracious will for our lives.  

And so, we pray with all our heart for God’s will to be done in us. This is what we must show and teach our children. For when we pray this we know that we are really praying against ourselves. We are actually making our life more difficult and attracting the attention of viscious enemies that will attack us. With open eyes, we pray for God’s will to be done in us for the sake of Jesus. We follow him into the battle he has come to fight against God’s enemies. That is everything. This is what we are praying for when we pray, “Thy will be done.”

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The Brandon Valley Journal

 

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