To Find Out What is the Will of God.

Last year, my daughter played Maria in “The Sound of Music.” As I watched (literally) every single performance, one line in the show stood out to me as the most powerful line of the entire show. The Mother Abbess asks Maria, “What is the most important lesson you have learned here?” (during her time spent in the Abbey) Maria pauses, thinks, and then answers,

“To find out what is the will of God and to do it.”

In all of its simplicity, this line is the most critically important mission given to all believers. And quite honestly, most of us fail to achieve it over and over. Going back to the earliest records of human history, man has always sought to find out what “the gods” want of him. In most cultures there were many gods, with apparently many different demands. Therefore, man resorted to guessing what each god wanted and then suffering the god’s apparently arbitrary favor or punishment.

It wasn’t until the God of Israel appeared in fire and smoke to a rag tag multitude of newly liberated Hebrew slaves and gave them a set of “commandments” that there was any communication from “God” about how the people of a nation should live their lives. It was a new and unique concept—a relief—and a responsibility all rolled up in one powerful text (on stone tablets) message. Now, this nation knew exactly what God wanted of them (in most situations) They knew which sacrifices and offerings to give at which times of the year. They knew what to do if their neighbor’s donkey falls down (help your neighbor get it back on its feet) They knew which animals are considered food for them and which aren’t to be eaten.

God set before them two paths, the path of obedience and blessing and the path of disobedience and cursing. The path of life, or the path of death. We read the stories of the ancient Israelites and we see how they deliberately chose to turn their back on their God over and over. Then we read about the disastrous consequences. Why didn’t they get it? Certainly I would have done a better job. Certainly I am doing a better job, right? Wrong.

Very seldom do we read our story in theirs.

Ours is a world of moral relativity. Each person “does what is right in his own eyes.”  In a way, we are saying “I’m God.” Now, unless you particularly are the one who set the stars in the heavens, determines the seasons, and has the ability to actually create a flower, or even dirt, for that matter, I think we can all agree that you (and I) are not God. So what makes us think we have the right to tell God how things should be?

God created the world; he created each of us, and then, He did one better and gave us the “Instruction Manual” for how it should all operate. Perhaps we should pull that manual out and read it now and then. But if you choose not to read it and follow the instruction, don’t expect the manufacturer to honor any complaints you may have down the road.