Numbers 17:1–11; Romans 5:1–11; Matthew 20:17–28

“Thy will be done.” We pray it every Sunday. Many pray it before going to bed, and again, upon rising. And if you serve on a Lutheran Church committee, you might close your meetings with the Lord’s Prayer, asking for God’s will to be done “on earth as it is in heaven.” So, one has to wonder why there is so much grumbling.

We hear the muttering back through the ages to the time of the wilderness wandering, when Korah and his rebels wanted to usurp Moses’ authority. By the time of Jesus, James’ and John’s mother wanted her sons to be the highest authority beside Jesus. Of course, we still murmur against God, wanting things our way, though we pray, “Thy will be done.”

What would the Church be like if we stopped insisting on having things our way, but instead, celebrated our peace with God by following Christ’s example? What would it look like if we laid down our lives for each other, starting with a sacrifice of our grumbling self-wills? We might just be in a better place to to trust that the Lord’s will is done—by him, instead of by us.

Prayer: Help me to endure with hope, in Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.

Today’s devotion was written by Mark Ryman, Communications Coordinator for the NALC. 

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