Thy Will Be Done

by: Jessica Heikoop

As every parent soon learns, children develop a will of their own. It happens early, often during a time we sometimes call “the terrible twos.”

An essential part of our surrender to God is the surrender of our will. The best example of this is Jesus. He came not to seek or do his own will but the will of his father. This is precisely what our attitude must be: to do not our will but God’s.

We cannot be God’s children if we don’t submit to his will. Only when we submit to his will can we gladly and fully accomplish it.

The Lord’s Prayer includes the petition “Your will be done” (Matt. 6:10). This is a statement of surrender: to do his will even if it “interferes” with our own will (and to do so without stubbornly dragging our feet).

But in order to say “Yes” to God’s will, we must know what his will for our lives is. We do this by studying his Word and listening to his voice. Romans 12:2 encourages us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, “that by testing [we] may discern what is the will of God.”

As we surrender our will to him, we can grow in understanding his will. Then we may obediently follow and fulfill it.