Thy pleasure be done

It was god's will that christ go to the cross; that is clear. But Christians are often perplexed about how to understand God's will in their own lives. We frequently hear devout Christians say, "I believe this is the will of God for me." That seems to settle the matter.

But does it?

Many people have made serious mistakes trying to follow what they imagined was the will of God. Pope Urban II declared it was God's will that a crusade be launched to rescue the Holy City of Jerusalem from the infidel Muslims. He couldn't have been more wrong. "Deus vult!" he exclaimed. "God wills it!" So hundreds of thousands of European men and women needlessly lost their lives in a wasted cause, and the Muslims have hated Christians ever since.

John Wesley, otherwise such a wise and worthy Christian, used to cast lots in an effort to determine God's will. That was poor judgment. Had Wesley had his way, America would never have experienced the blessings of the Great Awakening of 1740 under George Whitefield's preaching, for Wesley told Whitefield, "The lot tells me you should not go to America." God's will is not discerned by the flip of a coin.

Some people think God's will is what happens. They say of almost anything, "It's God's will," by which they really mean simply "fate." But ours is not an arbitrary God. A fine New England thinker, Timothy Dwight, once pointed out, "To say God wills a thing because he wills it is to speak without meaning."

Perhaps we had better look more closely at that word "will." When two people get married they tell the minister, "I will." It sounds quite emphatic. They are not saying, "I intend," or "I purpose" or "I have a notion." They are saying "I will!"

Recently when reading Rollo May's book, Love and Will, I came across this interesting statement: "Aristotle said, 'Will works through desire.'" That sounded sensible to me. What I will, I desire. Now let's take it farther: What God wills, God desires. If so, in the Lord's prayer we might read, "May your desire be done on earth as your desire is done in heaven." It sounds awkward I know, but at least we can grasp the meaning.

Now I invite you to look with me at Revelation 4:11b. In the New International Version it reads, "You created all things, and by your will they exist and were created." But then look at the same verse in the old King James Version: "Thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." One version interprets the Greek word as "will," the other as "pleasure." Which is right? Both! What we will (that is, what we desire) is what gives us pleasure. Everybody knows that. We call it joy; others call it happiness, pleasure, or fun. It's the chief aim of the human race, and always has been.

But the text has an even bigger surprise: Joy is also what God wants. All things were created for his pleasure. That's why he made us human beings, for his pleasure. Not in order to vent his wrath on us. Not to make us suffer, or to fill our lives with onerous duties. And not to waste our lives in wrongdoing and idle dissipation.

God created us so that he might enjoy us, and he designed us in his image so that we also might have the pleasure of knowing him and enjoying him. That's why he placed our forebears in a lovely garden. That's why he invented songs, and smiles, and laughter. That's why he gave us the gift of love, so that we would enjoy helping each other. Not because he wanted us to spend our lives in drudgery and slavery, or in bitterness and vengeance.

The mystery of iniquity brought with it misery, pain, and tragedy. Thank God he so loved the world that he sought to rescue us. He gave us his only Son, Jesus, to be our Savior and Redeemer and Lord. Jesus came to us on a mission of joy. He said so himself. In John 15:11 he stated, "These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full." What could be plainer?

Jesus went to the cross, according to Hebrews 12:2, for the joy that was set before him. He despised the shame, and is now set down at the right hand of his Father, enjoying the delights of heaven.

What then is the will of God? That we should desire God. Don't desire happiness; it is a chimera. Desire him, long for him, yearn for him, and when you have found him, delight in him, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

That is the will of God for us. Don't miss it.

Mr. Wirt, a past WORLD contributor, was 85 years old on March 12.