Anita Mayfield writes...
The Will of God
In 1974 our son, Robert, had his first heart surgery at age five. After two more heart surgeries in his teen years and many difficult times, he passed away in l989 at age nineteen. Reverend Ken Rice, who spent time with us at the first surgery, gave me a small booklet called "The Will of God”. It has defined and clarified my faith and beliefs over the years.
Written in 1944, during the bombing of London in World War II, it is actually a series of sermons given by Reverend Leslie D. Weatherhead, a pastor in the Church of England. In his effort to comprehend God’s will in those horrific times, he examines the subject by dividing it into three:
Intentional Will – God’s ideal plan for us
Circumstantial Will – God’s plan within certain circumstances, and
Ultimate Will – final realization of God’s purposes.
Because of this book, I found a better way to see God’s will in my life - in ways I’d never thought about. When I think, and listen, and apply this understanding, I have been able to find a certain amount of peace and acceptance. When I so often fall away from God’s intentional will, I feel God guides me through my failures or the many situations beyond my control, to recognize His circumstantial will. And, above all and after all, I know that somehow God’s control and guidance and His ultimate will prevails.
With the great turmoil in our country and world today, I’ve wondered how all this hatred and warring could be God’s will. I’ve tried to understand how we’ve gotten to this terrible place from just a few years ago, with the future so much more uncertain than I’ve ever known. But Rev. Weatherhead’s ideas concerning God’s will, have given me an anchor for understanding. Amidst so much that’s been lost, I believe there are many things to be gained as well, even if we can’t see them very clearly right now. In whatever small ways possible, we can each contribute to the good in this world. It is surely a time of renewed challenge to help achieve God’s ultimate will in these dire circumstances.
An example that beautifully reflects God’s will was in the answer to a question asked of a young Amish girl after so many of her schoolmates were killed last year. The question was “how can you accept this awful thing and still go on?”. She responded by saying, “we learn to let it go and turn it over to God to make something good out of it.”
We can be certain that it was never God’s intentional will for that terrible event to happen, but in the circumstances of it having happened, she knew God’s ultimate will prevails.
In 1974 our son, Robert, had his first heart surgery at age five. After two more heart surgeries in his teen years and many difficult times, he passed away in l989 at age nineteen. Reverend Ken Rice, who spent time with us at the first surgery, gave me a small booklet called "The Will of God”. It has defined and clarified my faith and beliefs over the years.
Written in 1944, during the bombing of London in World War II, it is actually a series of sermons given by Reverend Leslie D. Weatherhead, a pastor in the Church of England. In his effort to comprehend God’s will in those horrific times, he examines the subject by dividing it into three:
Intentional Will – God’s ideal plan for us
Circumstantial Will – God’s plan within certain circumstances, and
Ultimate Will – final realization of God’s purposes.
Because of this book, I found a better way to see God’s will in my life - in ways I’d never thought about. When I think, and listen, and apply this understanding, I have been able to find a certain amount of peace and acceptance. When I so often fall away from God’s intentional will, I feel God guides me through my failures or the many situations beyond my control, to recognize His circumstantial will. And, above all and after all, I know that somehow God’s control and guidance and His ultimate will prevails.
With the great turmoil in our country and world today, I’ve wondered how all this hatred and warring could be God’s will. I’ve tried to understand how we’ve gotten to this terrible place from just a few years ago, with the future so much more uncertain than I’ve ever known. But Rev. Weatherhead’s ideas concerning God’s will, have given me an anchor for understanding. Amidst so much that’s been lost, I believe there are many things to be gained as well, even if we can’t see them very clearly right now. In whatever small ways possible, we can each contribute to the good in this world. It is surely a time of renewed challenge to help achieve God’s ultimate will in these dire circumstances.
An example that beautifully reflects God’s will was in the answer to a question asked of a young Amish girl after so many of her schoolmates were killed last year. The question was “how can you accept this awful thing and still go on?”. She responded by saying, “we learn to let it go and turn it over to God to make something good out of it.”
We can be certain that it was never God’s intentional will for that terrible event to happen, but in the circumstances of it having happened, she knew God’s ultimate will prevails.
posted by Melanie at 4:10 PM
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