God's Will

An overweight man decided it was time to shed some pounds. He informed his co-workers he was going on a diet and would no longer be bringing donuts to the office. He knew it would be hard to resist stopping at the bakery on the way to work, but he committed himself to remaining strong and resisting temptation.

His co-workers were surprised one morning to see him arrive at the office with big box of donuts. When they reminded him of his diet, he just smiled.

“These are very special donuts,” he explained. “When I left for the office this morning, I knew I was going to drive by the bakery, and I wondered if maybe the Lord might want me to have some donuts today. I wasn’t sure, so I prayed, ‘Lord, if you want me to stop and buy some donuts, let there be an open parking place directly in front of the bakery.’ As you know, parking spaces in front of that bakery are hard to get!”

“So the parking space was there?” one of his co-workers asked.

“It was a miracle,” the man replied. “The eighth time around the block there it was!”

We need to remember that God’s will is not always our will. When we pray for God’s will to be done, we shouldn’t be trying to manipulate God into rubber-stamping what we have already decided to do. The Bible tells us that our hearts are wicked and “deceitful above all things” (Jeremiah 17:9). Most of the time, what we want to do is not what God wants us to do.

Jesus did not want to die on the cross, but rather than demanding His way, He prayed, “Father…not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 2:42) God always knows what’s best for us. We must submit ourselves to doing what He wants, not what we want.