A Christian Mantra for ALL Life's Happenings, Good and Evil

Life is a journey of roller coasters, road trips, wave surfin' and sunset sailing. Okay, so I didn't mention mountain climbing, hamster wheels and well, the list is infinite. Fake it till you make it?  Naively march onward? Paralized with fear? Not sure of the "right" response? Me either. Despite the endless confusion of whirlwinds and indescribable emotional responses, I have found peace resting with this mantra:

"Thy will be done"

It works for EVERY life situation.

Dog die? "Thy will be done"

Dad unexpectedly died? "Thy will be done"

Receive a promotion? "Thy will be done"

Your boss received a promotion on Your work? "Thy will be done"

Fired? "Thy will be done"

Computer isn't working? "Thy will be done"

Kids acting up?  "Thy will be done"

Unethical practices in church? "Thy will be done"

Brutality of women, children and families in the Congo? "Thy will be done"

Wait a minute, how can kidnapping, rape and murder be God's will? This is going too far... 

So the question we all face: How can God be good allowing or ordaining such awful things to happen? Is this God's will? Do I really want to support or endorse God's will? Yes, we are suppose to deny ourselves and trust God but let's be real here for a moment. If God is so powerful and loving, why is the world such a mess?

The words of Jesus in his Parable of the Weeds and Wheat Mathew 13 have been helpful to me when I find myself in this divide (which I often do)

24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’

28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.

“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”.

Jesus later gives the following explanation:
1. Sower = Jesus
2. Field = World
3. Good Seed = God's Children (people doing good works?)
4. Weeds = Children of Evil (people doing evil?)
5. Enemy = Satan
6. Harvest = End of World
7. Reapers = Angels

The bad seeds or weeds of evil are an intrusion, to God's children. Removing these weeds from the field would remove good so we are called to live with evil and wait for the harvest to be siphoned. "Thy will be done" or more fittingly ""Thy will be done on earth and heaven."

Whether in the next 30 seconds or 30 years, your life is destined to hit a bump, tidal wave, train wreck, or dark spot. The possibilities are endless. Rest in the most basic Christian Mantra for ALL of Life's Happenings: "Thy will be done."

Hultgren, A.J. (2000). The Parables of Jesus: A Commentary. Wm. B. Eardmans Publishing Co. Cambridge, U.K. Pages 392-303.