Not My Will, But Yours

A season of big changes is coming up in my life. If I try to imagine six months from now, I cannot; there are so many unknowns looming ahead. Of course, none of us can really know what our lives will look like in six months—or tomorrow, for that matter, as every breath is a gift from God—but many of us probably have a decent guess.

As for my family, we hope that my husband will successfully complete his PhD program, receive a job offer, and we’ll pack up our lives and move to who knows where. (The Lord knows where.) I don’t know if we will move closer to our families, as we both deeply desire, or farther from them. I don’t know what the opportunities for my own work will be in our new location. I don’t know what parish we will attend, what community we will be a part of, or where my son will go to preschool. But, one thing I do know: God is God, and He has this.

Today’s readings encourage us to seek and to follow the will of God, to follow Christ. In the First Reading, we hear that the Apostles sought to know the will of the Father through fasting and prayer. We are called to these practices, too, sisters—and not only during Lent. When we earnestly seek to know God’s will, we invite the Holy Spirit to move in our lives.

In Saint John’s Gospel reading, Jesus shares how His earthly mission, too, was doing the will of the Father. “I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and speak.” It is Jesus’s submission to our Father’s will that ultimately grants us salvation: “Not my will but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)

God’s providential plan for our lives is beyond imagining, sisters. With its joys and sorrows, twists and turns, may we experience peace of heart, knowing that “whoever follows [Him] will have the light of life.” Like the Apostles, let us be sent forth by the Spirit in this Easter season. Let us share with others the joy that comes from following our risen Lord.

Like the Apostles, let us be sent forth by the Spirit in this Easter season. // @inendlesssongClick to tweet

Raise your voice in prayer with the Psalmist: “May Your way be known upon the earth.” Yes, Lord God! Jesus, have Your way in me.

Elise Howe is a devoted wife, momma, and musician currently living in NYC, though she will always be a midwestern gal at heart. You can find out more about her here.