"... the will of God is that which is good, and well-pleasing and perfect." -- Romans 12:2

Do we truly believe that God's will is absolutely "perfect"? If so, why is it that we find it most difficult for us to fully submit ourselves to the will of God? If we are honest with ourselves, we will admit that deep within some of our hearts, we still believe that God's will always involve some amount of loss and sufferings on our part... at least from our past experiences that seems to be the case. I believe that the reason why it was so painful when God's will differ from ours is because we were tenaciously clutching onto our own will and our own desires. Thus, when God has to pry them away, it hurts and sufferings ensue. In a way, we have brought the sufferings upon ourselves by our unwillingness to surrender ourselves to do the will of God. The context of the above quoted verse shows our need to surrender our lives, including our will, to be a living sacrifice...with a transformed life and renewed mind to do the will of God (Rom 12:1-2). This indicates that a transformed life is one dedicated unequivocally and unwaveringly to doing the will of God whatever it may be and whatever it may costs.

Back to the question: Why do we find it so difficult to fully surrender ourselves to the will of God? I think we are not convinced that God's will is always "good, well-pleasing, and perfect." Perhaps sometimes in our ignorance, we even subconsciously think that we know better than God -- not knowing that the smartest among us like Albert Einstein, king Solomon, or Issac Newton cannot even come close to the ingenuity and the expansiveness of God's thoughts (Isa 55:9). It's like comparing the intellect of a microscopic amoeba to the intellect of a human -- that's how far off our thoughts are to God's and even to a far greater degree. Well, we may be convinced that God's will is perfect, but not necessarily "good and well-pleasing" to us. Of course it is true that what is good and well-pleasing to God may not necessarily good and well-pleasing to us, because our will and our desires often differ from God's. Having said that, I would hasten to add that God's will is overall "good and well-pleasing" to us as well in the long run.

To make my point, let us consider a familiar passage in Matthew 6:10: The Lord taught us to pray for His will to be done on earth as it is done in heaven. This clause, "Thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven" is most significant, because it suggests that heaven is a place where God's will is done. What makes heaven a wonderful, well-pleasing, and a perfect place and the earth the antithesis of heaven? The difference lies in the will of God being done! What makes heaven a "heavenly place" with all its positive connotations is due to the fact that it is a place where the will of God is done. When the will of God is done on the earth in its entirety and fullness, this earth will be 'heavens on earth.' We know that that day shall inevitably come someday (Rev 21:2). The question is, 'Are we going to help expedite the coming of that day by first allowing the will of God to be done in our own lives?' Are we going to be like David was a man after God's own heart, because he was willing to do ALL of God's will (Act 13:22 ). And yes there are times, when doing God's will may mean undergoing painful but momentary sufferings in order for God to bring us a much greater good that is beyond what we could ask or think. The Lord Jesus Himself in Gethsemane prayed, “My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done” (Matt 26:42). The Lord Jesus surely suffered an agonizing death on the cross, but look at what great accomplishment that was for God's eternal plan: not only did He dealt with all the negative things, including Satan, but He also brought us so great a salvation! Well some may say, what about the subject person himself who underwent all these sufferings to do the will of God, what did He gain? Well, we know that the Lord has gained us to be His many brethren and collectively He gained us, the Church, to be His Bride! Hebrews 12:2 tells us that it was for the joy that was set before Him that He endured the cross. Also as a man, He is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (This is just mentioning a few of the obvious items.) Therefore we can say with confidence that ultimately, the sufferer himself/herself gains great joy in doing God's will!

"May the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead... make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ...” (Heb 13:20-21).