Thy Will Be Done (Jeremiah 42-43)

Thy Will Be Done (Jeremiah 42-43)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah+42-43

Today’s passage depicts the fickleness of the people of God.  Those that were left behind in Jerusalem after it had been destroyed by Babylon approached Jeremiah for guidance from the Lord. They asked Jeremiah for a Word from the Lord, promising to do whatever the Lord says.

As it turns out, they really had no such intentions.  They really wanted the Lord or Jeremiah to endorse their own plans, which involved fleeing from the Babylonians to Egypt.  So when the Word from the Lord through Jeremiah came to them, telling them to stay put in Jerusalem and to serve the Babylonians, they rejected it.  Not only did they go through with their plans to flee to Egypt, they forced Jeremiah to go with them.

When I pray to the Lord for guidance or pray for his blessing, am I really open to the direction He may lead me?  Or am I just looking for endorsement and blessing upon the plans I have already made.  Perhaps we don’t express it this crassly, but this is in effect what we do when we come to the Lord not just with a problem or concern, but also detailed descriptions in our minds of just how the problem is to be solved.

The Lord’s will may indeed coincide with our will.  But in the Lord’s Prayer, the pattern for daily prayer given to us by Jesus, He calls us to the complete opposite approach.  Instead of seeking God’s endorsement for our will, we are to surrender our will to His.

So my prayer today is “Thy Will Be Done.”  Whatever it may be.  Wherever it may lead.  And no matter how different it is from what I really want to happen.  May God give me grace and wisdom to seek His will first and the faith to follow it.

What is the Word leading you to pray about today?

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