J42 God's will, or was it mine?

"Father, if Thou wilt, withdraw this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but Thine be fulfilled. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, comforting him. And he was in agony, and prayed somewhat longer. And his sweat was like drops of blood, trickling down to the ground." Luke 22:42 (* 1)

Ambrose differentiated Jesus' human will from his divine one: "He referred his own will to man and his Father's to the Godhead. The will of man is temporary, but the will of the Godhead is eternal. There is not one will of the Father, and another of the Son. There is one will ... Learn that you are subject to God, so that you may choose not what you yourself want but what you know will be pleasing to God." (*2)

Reflection:

It is not easy to pray God's will -- that is why we rarely hear it explicitly stated in our own prayers of supplication or intercession. Our needs and the plight of those for whom we kneel is so dire to us, it is hard to imagine a merciful God denying them. I am ever mindful of Paul's thorn in the flesh; it is typical perhaps of Paul that he only prayed three times for its removal, before accepting it. Did not our Savior Himself teach to be relentless in prayer, as the widow seeking justice for herself?

I was raised in a Godless home, and came late to the Lord. Only after my sins had obliterated my life, and God had mercifully and miraculously removed me far from the sty I had created for myself, did I hear Him.

I had to be driven to my knees.

Since the Corona virus reached the US, my wife and I have prayed that our beloved country would experience revival. Another Great Awakening. It is our prayer still. If the mighty, powerful, and proud country needs to be taken to its knees to take to its knees, so be it.

How callous and unfeeling that sounds!

We love our church, its leadership, and our brothers and sisters there. It embraces all of the spiritual gifts. It is the most Christian we have known, and having lived in 8 states and 4 countries, we have known many!

Our church has disseminated some "How to pray during the pandemic" lists. The chief prayer is, that the pandemic would end, "right now!"

That is also MY prayer, but I hasten to add, "not my will, but yours alone, God. Please use this evil for good, by softening the hearts and minds of my countrymen who have not yet bowed to you!"

(*1) Tyndale's 1534 translation from the original Greek was the first in English, and was the basis for all other English translations until the 1611 King James (which uses much of it).

(*2) Exposition of the Gospel of Luke 10.60. "Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New Testament III, Luke." Arthur J. Just, Ed.

3/26/2020