Thy Will Be Done and Mine Undone

I read a quote this morning by Elisabeth Elliot that said, “To pray ‘Thy will be done’, I must be willing, if the answer requires it, that my will be undone.” That speaks volumes to me. How many times have I asked God to carry out His will through me and for me, but been unwilling to let go of the desires of my own humanly heart? How many times have I ignore signs that I was diverging from God’s plan for me, just because I didn’t want to let go of what I thought I had? How many times have I wanted something so bad that I refused to accept that it simply wasn’t meant for me? The answer to all of these questions, to put it simply, is a lot.

It’s easy to ask God to take control. The hard part comes when we must relinquish our control and let God take the reins. We like certainty. We like knowing what the outcomes will look like. Often that’s improbable and impossible. God doesn’t work like we do. His plans are much more intricate and much more marvelous than we could ever dream of. We know what He is capable of, but we’re still afraid to let go. Putting your future in the hands of anyone but yourself feels terrifying, but it is so, so necessary. God knows what’s best for you. You need only pray and have faith.

I wish I could tell you for sure that the job you applied for last week is a perfect fit for you. I wish I could tell you that the cute guy in your Philosophy lecture likes you, you’re both perfect for each other, and you’re going to get married one day. I wish I could tell you what your future looks like so you don’t worry any longer, but I can’t. I don’t know what God’s plan for you looks like. You might completely bomb that job interview. You might fail your next Chemistry exam. You might date that guy from Philosophy and find out he’s a total jerk. That’s the way the cookie crumbles, my friend. If I could protect you from every heartache, I would, but you would never learn. You would never grow. You would have never blossomed into the beautiful person that you are today.

But do know, that when these inevitable failures and heartbreaks come, they’re all a part of God’s plan for your life. God is the greatest author there is. There are no plot holes. There are no typos. Everything is planned perfectly. There are no mistakes. I promise that His version of your story will be better than anything you could ever dream of.

There’s a verse in Proverbs that speaks to me so much, that no other verse that can quite compare. It’s Proverbs 19:21 to be exact, and it reads, “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” God’s plan is inevitable. No matter what you want, no matter how hard you work for it, if it’s not meant for you, God won’t let it happen, and it will hurt. It will break your heart and leave you breathless on the floor. Faith is the key to survival here. Always remind yourself that even in your toughest failures and your hardest heartbreaks that God has not abandoned you. He wrote this chapter of your life a long time ago. This was His plan all along. He’s leading you towards the greatest success of your life.

It’s hard to “let go and let God”. It takes a lot of strength and courage to be able to put your life in the hands of our Lord. Don’t undermine the hard work you’ve put into your faith. Everyday you keep trusting in God is another day you’ve won a battle. Faith is a process. No one’s faith is perfect and unfaltering every single day of their life. If it were that easy, we’d never learn, and we’d never grow.

But know this, my dear… you can always trust God. You can always know that He has your back. Pray and let Him know what is on your mind and on your heart. He won’t leave you hurting for long. He may answer your prayers exactly as you asked, and that’s great. It’s a lot more likely, however, that he’ll either say “no” or “not right now”. Both of these answers mean that we must then surrender our will and let God take control. You cannot ask God to perform miracles in your life and continue to act as dictator of your world.

My prayer for you is that God tells you “no” or “not right now” at least once in your lifetime. My prayer for you is that you learn how to fail. You learn how to keep your faith even through a heartbreak. My prayer for you is that you get knocked down, but only so you can learn how to get back up and keep going. I pray that you learn how to build you faith strong like a tower. I pray that you learn how to trust that God has a plan for you and that what is meant to be will be. I pray that you learn and grow from everything you go through in life. My prayer for you is that you learn how to pray not “Thy will be done”, but to pray “Thy will be done and mind undone” instead. I am still learning how every single day.