The Will of God

“Not My will, but Thine be done ” has long been taken to mean resignation to something terrible. A complete giving over to a power, which would put one through suffering of untold description. A dumb submission to horrible experiences, which from every angle appeared evil and untoward, but which were to be accepted as the Will of God, of Whom the most predominant charac­teristic was love. “God is love.”

There must be something awry in this whole thing. If we are to believe John, and accept God as a God of Love, the very ” Love which casteth out all fear,” then what of this tyrant who is going to make you bend to His Will, and cause you to suffer and be crucified?

The human mind struggles with a force called will-power. It is the driving force of the human intellect—a putting a thing through, whether or no. Its end is complete chaos. In its most pronounced form it is hypnotism ; causing others to do your bid­ding, willing them to perform according to your commands. Years ago Coué exploded the so-called power of the will and brought to light the startling fact that the imagination is much more effective and powerful.

What is the Will of God, then, of which Jesus said, “Not My will, but Thine be done.” What do you imagine the Will of a God of Love would be? What do you imagine is the Will of a God Who is pictured as a loving Father? What is wrong—how is it we have gone astray into the by-path of human reasoning, and made the Will of God something to be dreaded and feared? “Perfect love casteth out fear”—and perfect Love is God-Love. We have mistaken the will of man for the Will of God, and hence have charged off our sufferings to the Will of a God of Love.

“The thing that is most essential is that if anyone is of ME, he is lost in My Will, and he desires to be lost in My Will, and to be governed by My Spirit. Give Me your heart. By heart I mean all that your mental world consists of, all the desires, the suspicions, fears, limitations, the wishes, and vain imaginings, the struggles and strains, everything—give them all to Me, and then when you have given all to Me, if you desire to do anything or to go to any place, or be anything, that desire will be of ME, and its fulfillment will be certain and assured.”

“Give me your heart” is a request that the human will and desire be turned over to the Will of God, “When your will becomes My Will, then My Will becomes your will, and the Will of God is done.”

When you give over the human will, then automatically the”government is upon His shoulders.” The government of your life falls upon the shoulders of the Christ-Conscious­ness and it automatically functions into ex­pression. When your will is given over to God, then it is that His Will becomes your will, and need you ask or wonder whether there will be any question of its fulfillment?

Desires sometimes appear evil. We wonder where they come from and why it is that “when I would do good I do evil”—it is simply because the original urge of Spirit, the Will of God, has been so misunderstood in the mass of human thinking that it seems to be something evil, wholly apart from God and having no other origin but that of a Satanic power. Why do I want to do evil things—to hate, to criticize, to envy, to covet—when Iknow that it is neither profitable nor right ? A bank robber’s desire, at base, is not bad; but the hopelessly wrong interpretation of it is. There is nothing wrong in desiring substance, but the human belief, with its false appearances, makes the getting of this sub­stance seem impossible to man, so he steals. The original desire to have substance is right and good. So is it with our jealousy and envy. The desire back of these is all right. We, too,desire to manifest the beauty, the love, or the substance that we see another manifesting, and there is nothing wrong in this. It is merely the interpretation that is bad. By the time our desire comes to the surface, it is all distorted by a thousand and one human beliefs and laws which we have accepted, so we have an ugly manifestation.

No matter how much you may desire to do something that may seem good and right, that is no sign that you will do it. Just so long as the desire remains on a personal plane it is bound to bring unhappiness, or at best only temporary satisfaction. But who can conceive of the Will of God ever going astray?

The most interesting part about giving over your will to God is that it invites you, not only to give over the good, but the evil also. Give over the will and all desires, whether they are good, bad, or indifferent, and, just as soon as you have given them over to God, the rightful interpretation of them will be made and the Will of God will be carried through into expression. It is Wonderful ! It is wonderful to find out that you can give the evil desire over to God and then receive the rightful interpretation of this desire with its fulfillment.

Does it not say, “Cast thy burden upon Me and I will sustain thee.”What is meant by this? Certainly your good does not become a burden, or at least we are not in the habit of thinking of it in that light. Why, it must mean the burden of evil, the evil desires, the temptations, the struggles,the strain of everything. All is given over to the He within and without. All is given over to God. When your will becomes My Will and My Will becomes your will, then the will, or the desire, that comes to you is sure of expres­sion and success.

So often a desire comes and people say, ” I do not know whether it is good for me to have this desire or not “—or, on failure to manifest the good so much needed at the time, the excuse is sometimes made, ” It was not best that I should have it.” All this goes by the board when the Will of God is recog­nized and is allowed to come into manifesta­tion by reason of your complete surrender of the human will. It is Wonderful! All the evil desires, the things that you could not understand, just cast them on the Lord—just turn them over to the Father and you will get the rightful Urge of Spirit and that urge will be carried right through to fulfillment. Then, “if you desire to do anything or to go to any place, or be anything, that desire will be of ME, and its fulfillment will be certain and assured.” It is so glorious, this Revelation. Think about it. Think about the glorious Realization that the Will of God, working through you, will be carried right through into expression.The Word shall become flesh and dwell among you. Think of the rest and peace of the one guided by this urge of Spirit, and the happy relaxation of know­ing that whatsoever you then desire will be sure and certain of attainment. It is Wonderful!

Many may claim that it is hard to give over the desires and wishes and fears to God, but you can soon finish that state of things by giving over the very thing which you say is hard to do—give that to ME also. Give all toME and you will have lost nothing.

“He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life . . . for My sake shall find it ” is just another way of putting it. Just as soon as you give your life to God, then you find the Real, Glorious Free Life of Spirit, and you know that you have some­thing beyond all human laws; but as long as you hang on to a personal sense of health or life, shut up in a little body, you are depen­dent upon demonstrations for every bit of happiness or health you manifest. It is Wonderful ! Are you afraid to trust your whole life to God? “Fear not, I AM with you.”

Giving over desires, fears, and suspicions does not produce a state of inertia or in­activity, for now the way is cleared for real activity, and the urge of Spirit in you is sure and certain of accomplishment. Think not to cheat this power by holding on to your desires and imagining that God will fulfill your selfishness; but you will give up nothing in comparison to what you will receive. No man has ever given up anything for which he did not receive a hundredfold in the Kingdom of Heaven—which, remember, is a state of consciousness and not a locality. Do you begin to understand? You receive a hundred­fold for any thing or desire or belief you release to Spirit.”Cast thy burden upon ME.” It is Wonderful! Even the suspicions, the superstitions, and all the fears, and, when you do, you find that the God of Love is a God of Love and is manifesting in a Uni­verse of Love.

A musician must first play to himself. He must first get the interpretation of his composition before his audience can hear it. Do you begin to see that, just as soon as you relax your conscious mentality and place the burden on ME, you will have the true interpre­tation of Life, and those who contact you will begin to feel this glorious understanding and will carry away the blessing. It is Wonderful! A minor chord can be resolved into a major chord by changing a single note. Anyone who understands this can produce harmony by this simple change. It is simple, easy, and beautiful. So the great Master Musician can change the discordant minor chords that you are striking with false, mis­taken, or misunderstood desires, into glorious paeans of harmony and praise. The dis­cordant desire, the unfulfilled desire, or the unrequited desire, all these are cast on the Lord—utterly and abandonedly cast on the Power, and the proper interpretation comes through. It is Wonderful!

The automatic action of the Will of God is an intriguing subject to contemplate, since it is not dependent upon a single human law. It expresses Itself, independent of all human belief, and comes under a Law that is as high above any human reason as the heavens are high above the earth. There is considerable difference between the ways of the human will-power and the Divine Will—considerable difference in the manner and means of expres­sion. One depends absolutely on material ends, the other is independent of them. “I have a way that ye know not of “—the Will of God has a way of expression that is past finding out. It is Wonderful, glorious, and soul-satisfying to let the government be upon His shoulders.

“Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. “Come unto Me. Turn over to Me your desires, fears, suspicions, and superstitions. Turn over to ME the struggle and strain and every­thing. “Ye do not need to fight.” “One with God is a majority,” and the Will is being done. It is Wonderful! When everything is given over and the mind is still, then the new desire, the urge of Spirit that comes through into the picture, is certain and sure of expression.

“The thing that is most essential is that, if anyone is of Me, he is lost in My Will, and he desires to be lost in My Will, and to begoverned by My Spirit. Give Me your heart. By heart I mean all that your mental world consists of, all, the desires, the suspicions, fears, limitations, the wishes and vain imaginings, the struggles and strain, everything—give all to Me, and then when you have given all to Me, if you desire to do anything or to go to any place or be any thing, that desire will be of Me, and its fulfillment will be certain and assured.”

How does this check with the command, “Take no thought for the purse, the journey, the scrip, the robe and ring, the upper chamber ” ? It checks perfectly, for, if the Will of God is expressing, there will be no worry about ways and means. No wonder, then, the command, ” Consider the lilies, how they grow,” has been so badly misunder­stood. It is only when the Will of God is allowed to function through us that we can grasp the meaning of this parable. “They toil not, neither do they spin.” It is Wonder­ful! And yet, if one attempts this from the human standpoint, he merely becomes improvident, or a schemer. Why? Because the law of the human mind is “Earn your bread by the sweat of your brow”—and nothing will alter that, until man gives up his personal will and “lets” the Will of God through into expression.

When the Will of God comes, It makes you more active than you have ever been before, because everything you do is certain of mani­festation and success. The makeshift mind that wishes to cling on to its personal will introduces all sorts of arguments which, on the surface, seem to be very worthy; but, underneath, you will see the personal self trying to have its way.

If Christ has told you to “Consider the lilies and the ravens,” it is better that you follow that advice than the word of someone trying to make you follow the way of the human will. “Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” It is Wonder­ful!-the automatic working of the Will of God. Automatic working is something to contemplate. “You do not need to fight” comes under this heading. It is restful—peaceful and fraught with joy. “There is a rest for the people of God.”

“Not My will, but Thine be done.” The Will of a God of Love. It is Wonderful! And So It Is.

 

Walter C. Lanyon