A favorite read in these retirement years is a book written by Wendell Berry entitled, "Jayber Crow." I have probably read it a half dozen times and recommended it to more folks than I can remember. After reading those words, "...they will be done..." in the Sermon on the Mount, Jayber finds himself in the midst of a spiritual crisis, "I must have read that verse or heard it a hundred times without seeing or hearing....But then one day I saw it. It just knocked me in the head. This, I thought, is what is meant by 'thy will be done..." It means that your will and God's will may not be the same. It means that there is a good possibility that you won't get what you pray for. It means that in spite of your prayers, you are going to suffer. It means you may be crucified."
Life was never the same after this moment of taking seriously the words of this prayer. No longer could he pray or think about God in the old ways. "After you have said 'thy will be done,' what more can be said?" Like the character in the book, it is easy for us to live with the lip recitation of these words without realizing how radical and life changing it is to embrace them. We know that one of the functions of prayer is to get our lives in sync with the will of the Father in heaven, but who is there among us who really wants this to happen in every detail of our life?
Surely, it is true that a part of the ongoing spiritual struggle for many of us is stepping into that stream of obedience which can only be entered through the door of total abandonment to God. We hunt for another entry point. And the ones we find may satisfy for a time, but the longer we walk with an awareness of God opening up the road, Christ being within us, and the Holy Spirit leading with convicting power, the more dissatisfied we become with mediocrity in our spiritual life. The dissatisfaction finally brings us before the door of abandonment where nothing really matters except, "thy will be done." Standing before the door is not enough. Dare we dare to enter?
Life was never the same after this moment of taking seriously the words of this prayer. No longer could he pray or think about God in the old ways. "After you have said 'thy will be done,' what more can be said?" Like the character in the book, it is easy for us to live with the lip recitation of these words without realizing how radical and life changing it is to embrace them. We know that one of the functions of prayer is to get our lives in sync with the will of the Father in heaven, but who is there among us who really wants this to happen in every detail of our life?
Surely, it is true that a part of the ongoing spiritual struggle for many of us is stepping into that stream of obedience which can only be entered through the door of total abandonment to God. We hunt for another entry point. And the ones we find may satisfy for a time, but the longer we walk with an awareness of God opening up the road, Christ being within us, and the Holy Spirit leading with convicting power, the more dissatisfied we become with mediocrity in our spiritual life. The dissatisfaction finally brings us before the door of abandonment where nothing really matters except, "thy will be done." Standing before the door is not enough. Dare we dare to enter?
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