Thy Will Be Done

The life that is fully abandoned to the will of God is the sweetest, purest, and most heaven-admired life on earth. Oh, how blessed to be able to speak out of the heart and say “Thy will be done”* (Matthew 26:42)! God can fold us to Himself only as we yield to Him. Sometimes you sing, “Fold me closer, Lord, to Thee.” God replies, “Yield more fully, child, to Me.” Some follow Jesus until the way grows rough and full of dangers. Peter said he would follow the Lord; but when the crucifixion stared him in the face, he drew back. There may be many others like him today. They often reason in this manner. “If God loves me, He would not have me suffer; therefore this way of danger and hardship and suffering is not God’s way, consequently I will not take it.” Many today would be enjoying a sweeter nearness to God if they had been more willing to endure the hardness and had not drawn back from the toil and suffering. Oh, how sweet to suffer for Jesus! I know God loves you. He loved His only begotten Son, but what did He call Him to suffer, and that for your sake? And now is it too much that He should call you to suffer for the sake of others?

Look upon the sufferings of Jesus. In the midst of His deepest sufferings He never charged the Father with a lack of love, but meekly bowed and said, “Not as I will, but as thou wilt.”* (Matthew 26:39) To step out of self and look toils, hunger, perils, darkness, trials, and persecutions in the face and say, “Thy will be done,” binds God’s loving heart to you. Oh, to have such intense love to God enables us to count the deepest sufferings for Him a blessing, is a sweet experience. To be wholly abandoned to the will of God is indeed heaven here. When such intense desire fills our soul for God’s will to be done in us and with us that any suffering which would glorify Him would be a relief, then we can begin to say from the heart, “Thy will be done in [us] as it is in heaven.”* (Matthew 6:10) How blessed! How heavenly to launch out upon the stream of time and say in our hearts, “Lord, direct my bark of life whithersoever Thou wilt. All is in Thy hands. I am fully Thine. Cause my little bark to turn at the slightest pressure of Thy will. O God, Thy will is all I care to know and do. It is my life; my only pleasure is in doing Thy will.”

I one day was in deep trial,
Satan heavy blows did wield,
Fiery darts were thickly flying,
I had almost dropped my shield.

Still more desperate grew the struggle,
Darkness reigned instead of day;
Then I heard my Savior whisper,
“Will you let Me have My way?

“All the dross I would discover,
And the gold I would refine.”
Then I humbly bowed and whispered,
“Lord, Thy will be done, not mine.”

Now my heart is full of gladness;
Nothing can disturb my rest,
Since I’ve learned that Jesus loves me,
And for me does always best.

Though the winds blow wild and dreary
And dark storm clouds o’er me spread,
They will burst when God commands them,
Drop rich blessings on my head.

Though the gloom and mists may gather
And dark feelings o’er me stray,
When I come into God’s presence,
All the darkness flees away.

When the way of life grows weary
And it seems I have no friend,
It is then my Savior whispers,
“I’ll be with thee to the end.”

’Tis not only of Christ’s blessings
I would willingly partake,
But I’ll drink the cup of suff’ring
For my blessed Savior’s sake.

When in pain and loss and sorrow,
’Tis so plainly now I see,
Since I know my Savior better,
That these things work good to me.

I will doubt Him never, never;
In the billows rough and wild,
In the deepest, sorest trial,
I will be His trusting child.

When the shadows deepen round me,
Shutting out the light of day,
In my heart I’ll softly whisper,
“Jesus, have Thy own sweet way.”

Till I reach the golden sunset,
This shall be my constant plea:
“As Thy will is done in heaven,
Let it, Lord, be done in me.”