I struggle with God’s will and the disappointing things that happen in my life. I have difficulty praying, “Your will be done,” because I don’t want to give up control. How can I be okay with whatever God thinks is best?

Your struggle is a common one on some level in all our hearts. But be careful what you ask for, you might just get it. In other words, what if God gives you everything you want even the things that are not good for you? Your will would have overridden God’s will, but your life would not by any means be better. On the other hand, when you pray to God, “Your will be done,” he will grant that request, and your life will be blessed according to his wisdom and love. It takes great spiritual maturity to understand that it is always a good thing to pray, “Your will be done.”

God’s will is not always our will

What do we want from this life? As Christians, we echo the words of the psalmist: “One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life” (Psalm 27:4). The one thing we want as Christians is to be in God’s house, in his family, in his presence. But let’s be honest: Is that really all that we want?

We may pray repeatedly for a family member to recover, but that’s not what happens. Then, we wonder, God, how could you let this happen? We cry out to God from a worried bed, “God, I don’t get why you would have let me lose my job!” We struggle with money and pain and relationships and a thousand other problems and think, How could a loving God let this happen? How could this be his will for my life?

Powerful voices answer. The world says, “See, God doesn’t have the answer.” The devil whispers, “See, God doesn’t love you like I love you.” Our own sin-filled hearts chime in, “See, you can’t trust a God who doesn’t always give you what you want.”

One thing we need to understand is what God tells us through the prophet Isaiah: “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9). Can we admit that our knowledge in any given situation doesn’t even come close to full knowledge? I’m reminded of a cartoon of a man walking down the street who gets hit in the head with a rock. He yells at God, “How could you let this happen?” Then, in the next frame, we see Jesus holding back thousands of stones. If we could only see all the ways that God withholds attacks in our lives!

God, forgive me for praying, “Your will be done . . . so long as it doesn’t interfere with my will.” We can’t have it both ways. In the end, there are only two kinds of people in this world: those who say to God, “Your will be done,” and those to whom God says in the end, “Your will be done.” I want to be the former.

God’s will is for you to be in heaven

The way to get to accepting God’s will is to understand what God’s will is. Contrary to popular opinion, God doesn’t just want you to be happy in this life. The Bible couldn’t state it more clearly: “This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3,4). Peter puts it this way when answering questions about God’s will: “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). You are part of the “all” and the “anyone” and the “everyone.” God’s will is for you to be in heaven!

That means that whatever he needs to do or let happen to keep you in line for heaven, he will. That might mean pain, sickness, or death. No one likes enduring those things, but if God deems them necessary to keep you out of hell’s courts, then so be it! Understanding that this life is a blip compared to eternity, I have a prayer that I hope God never answers: “Lord, if my life needs to be horrible for you to get me to heaven, then please let it be.” I hope that will not be the case, but it would be better than the alternative.

Logically, if you always get what you want, when would you and your loved ones ever get to heaven? There would be no sickness, no pain, no tears, no death if you had your way! Does that problem-free life sound familiar? That’s God’s description of heaven, and his only goal is to get you and others there. The difficulties you experience in this life remind you that you are not home yet.

God’s will is always best

Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). Jesus knew that God’s will is always best. He knew that God’s goal was to get us into heaven and the only way was through the pain of the cross. Jesus died for our “my way or the highway” attitude toward God. Jesus died so that we would be in heaven. God’s will is always best. When we question God’s will for our lives, let’s look to the cross of Jesus, and we will find our answer and the motivation to endure. Sometimes, it’s as though Jesus comes to us and asks, “Can you do this for me? I can not tell you why, but I’m asking you to trust me.” Then we see the nail marks in his hands and say, “Of course,” knowing the love behind the One who asks.

What if God gives you everything you want—even the things that are not good for you?

Through personal tragedies, Joseph Scriven learned to trust the Lord and encouraged others to do the same. Living two hundred years ago, he had to quit his studies for the military because of poor health. His girlfriend drowned the night before their wedding. His marriage plans fell apart a second time when his new fiancée died suddenly after a brief illness. Soon after, his mother found herself facing a time of terrible anxiety. The words of this man were simple. To encourage his mother, he penned a hymn to point her eyes to Jesus: “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry ev’rything to God in prayer! . . . Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care? Precious Savior, still our refuge—take it to the Lord in prayer. . . . In his arms he’ll take and shield you; you will find a solace there” (Christian Worship 721:1,3).

May God give us that maturity to pray, “Your will be done.”

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Author: David Scharf
Volume 112, Number 01
Issue: January 2025