Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done

The most recent conversations in our house have been about time.  When is Christmas coming?  How long until my birthday?  When is Easter?  Whose birthday is first?  This summer I remember conversations that occurred much closer to the birthdays involved constant countdowns.  I actually remember a moment when Mindy looked at me and said, “Enough with the birthday talk.”  She mentioned this quietly to make sure our kids didn’t hear.  But no doubt being an American and a kid creates a desire for immediate satisfaction.  Yet, I am not sure this is limited only to us in our country.  I wonder if this has been going on through all of time.  As I look back across my life, I am shocked at the things that God has brought me through.  I think realizing this only began recently because I often remember asking God to move more quickly.  I wanted to know where my future would land and what God would do in my life.  At this stage in my life, I relate more closely with the words from my favorite artist John Mayer’s song, “Stop This Train.”

            I think the most shocking reality in all of this was discovering how the difficult events in my life came at a time when I could actually handle them.  I was prepared at 13 to live through the divorce of my parents, and at 21, I was ready to accept the passing of my father.  This last year I lost my grandma, and as I watched the passing of generations that have taught me faith, I contemplated the legacy that God would call me to lead for my family and the church to which He has called me.  Considering the fact that when I was coming out of seminary, the idea of  being the sole pastor of a church was scary to me, but God continued to prepare me for every adventure, struggle, and blessing.

            As we stay faithful to our Lord, and certainly during this Advent season, we see how the traditions of the Church speak a reality that many of us may not embrace.  One of the lines we speak every Sunday from the Lord’s Prayer is, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.”  These lines do not fit well with a fast-paced society which is always concerned about when the next birthday, holiday, or event is coming.  These words are about patience and trust that God will bring us the appropriate thing in the right moments so we can handle them.  This is fine to say until we talk about some tragedy or something that brings us pain.  As we continue to walk through life, we find hard realities that shock us, and often we are not willing to jump right up and say, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.”  Yet, these lines are at the core of what God wanted for us.  He wanted us to be a part of His kingdom and He certainly knows His will is best in our lives.  Yet, no matter how much we prepare for His Kingdom and His will, we never seem to be truly ready for it.  Much of that has to do with the fact that His will often remains outside of our normal ways of thinking.

            This weekend we will study Isaiah.  In our reading, Ahaz was debating what to pray for.  He was wrestling with how to respond to God.  At that moment God was giving him a glimpse of His saving plan to send Jesus.  That saving plan would reconcile all the turmoil with the people of Israel and the pains Ahaz was facing with sin.  None of this changes his reality in that moment.  At the time it just may have made it harder, hearing that God was going to save the world through Immanuel . . . but not yet.  Thank the Lord we don’t have to wait for Jesus to come anymore.  But we are waiting for when He will come back.  And with every crazy turn in life we see how He prepares us to see His will mold and shape us.  We do know that sometimes “Thy Kingdom comes,” happens more quickly for some of our loved ones than others.  And we, like Ahaz, sit waiting for God’s kingdom and His return to come into our lives.  This Sunday as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus again, we take time to contemplate what it means to have His kingdom come and His will be done in our lives.