Doing God's Will: He Will Make All Things Beautiful in His Time

 

Johanes Baptista Adhi Samudro

            With the Covid – 19 pandemic still spreading in most parts of the world, we enter into the third great spiritual virtues – faith, hope, and love. We need to deeply and sincerely repent for the many times we have failed or faltered. After the Lord's Prayer which Christ Jesus taught us, He says, "ask any time for the Holy Spirit and you will receive His power."

            It is the Holy Spirit who gives us the power of receiving from the Father the priceless virtues of trusting faith, abiding hope, and love that is unending, unfailing, unlimited, unmerited, ever forgiving, merciful and compassionate. As we freely receive these virtues from God, we need to ask for the power of the Holy Spirit to give them freely to others so that they could fulfill the one great commandment that Christ Jesus gives to us, "Love one another as I love you." (John 15: 12).

            The Bible's faith chapther Hebrews 11 tels us that, "faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we can't see." (Hebrews 11: 1). This chapther also tells us that without trusting faith, it is impossible to journey with God. It refers to the faith of Abraham, Moses, and others while Christ Jesus is described as the pioneer and the perfection of our faith.

            Christ Jesus said: "My food is to do the will of the Father." (John 4: 34). He also says that He does only what the Father wants Him to do and says only what the Father wants Him to say. This deep desire to do the Father's will come mainly through constant or regular prayer and contemplative communication with the Father.

            In the Beatitudes, Christ Jesus also tells us that "those who have a pure heart will see God." (Mathhew 5: 8). Bible scholars say we will have a pure heart when we have a deep desire to discern and do God's will. He will then give us inner revelation and insights, meaning creative and imaginative ideas or thoughts that are beyond our expectations, imaginations or understanding.

            In one of his letters, St. Paul tells us, "rejoice always, pray constantly and give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God in Christ for you." (1 Thesalonians 5: 16 – 18).

            Doing God's will bring us eternal life. As Christ Jesus told Martha near the tomb of His friend Lazarus, "I am the Resurrection and the Life. Those who believe in Me and do God's will, will live forever, though they die." (John 11: 25).

            The founder of the Jesuit Order St. Ignatius in his thesis tell us 'How to discern God's will. Many miracles and wonderful things happen when we do God's will. It is not an easy or comfortable way. The Prophet Isaiah tells us, "for as the heaven is above the earth, so our God's plans are much higher than our plans." (Isaiah 55:9).

            Christ Jesus always practised what He preached and preached what He practised unlike the religious leaders of His time, who imposed hundreds of manmade laws on the people but they themselves as religious leaders did not practice what they imposed on others. That is why Christ Jesus slammed them as white-washed sepulchers, hypocrites and sanctimonious humbugs. That was why they somehow found a way to get Christ Jesus crucified by virtually forcing Governor Pilate to give the order after a mock trial.

            When Christ Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in Jordan River, the skies opened up, the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus Christ and from heaven, a voice said: "This is my beloved Son, I am well pleased with Him." (Matthew 3: 17). When Christ Jesus came to be fully aware of this, He left everything behind and allowed the Holy Spirit to lead Him up to the point of His Crucifixion and Resurrection which opened the way for us to have Eternal Life in the Kingdom of God. That is why we need to keep our focus on the eternal life that God offers us even at times when we go through crises, trials and tribulations such as the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, and economic consequences where millions of people are struggling to provide food for their families or send their children to school.

            St. Ignatius tells us that when we desire to discern and do God's will in small matters, God will give us the power to discern His will in major issues of our lives. Again this comes through prayer. St. Luke's Gospel refers to at least nine occasions where Jesus withdrew to a mountain or some quiet place to communicate with the Father and He prayed from evening till early morning. Catholic Bible scholars say that Christ Jesus went into prayer to be refilled with God's unconditional love so that He could continue to love the people who were rejecting or ridiculing Him despite all the miracles He performed.

            St. Ignatius tells us that when we pray to discern God's will in major issues we should first ask our conscience whether what we want to do is for our self – interest. If our conscience tells us there is self-interest then we should drop the matter because God is absolutely and all the time other – centred. While most of us most of the time are selfish or self-centred though we wear a Sunday mask to cover up our hypocrisy. Even if we find that there is no self – interest involved we need to surrender the issue to God and through events, circumstances, or through some person, God will show us His will. We also need to meditate on Bible passages connected to the issue, seek guidance from experienced counsellors and with with patience for God to reveal His will.

            As we sing in the inspring hymn, "In His time, in His time, He makes all this beautiful in His time. Lord, please show me every day, as You are teaching me Your way. That you do just what You say in Your time: in Your time, in Your time, You make all things beautiful in Your time. Lord, my life to You I bring with its winter and its spring may I fathom everything in Your time: There;s a time, there's a time both for sowing and for reaping there's a time. Time for losing, time for gain, time for joy and time for pain, every purpose under heaven has a time: There are times, there are days, weeks and months we cannot understand God's ways. If for years we fail to scan what is His eternal plan. We will remember that He can, all the time."