Article September 28, 1992 Issue

Learning to accept God's will

God's will for man is unlimited good, never evil. The better we understand this, the more we will say, "Thy will be done."

Clifford Kapps Eriksen

Sometimes people who cherish the Lord's Prayer find it difficult to accept without reservation that portion of the prayer in which Christ Jesus acknowledges God's disposal of events—"Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."

Why? Often it's because they've been taught to associate "God's will" with tragedy. In an effort to comfort those who have encountered difficulties, friends may sometimes remark, "It's God's will." As well-meaning as their motive may be, the implication of such a statement is simply not true.

Christian Science explains that God's will for man is never deprivation, suffering, or loss. The Lord's Prayer does not advocate a fatalistic acceptance of unpleasant conditions as a prelude to heaven or as part of some inscrutable plan for eventual salvation. God's will is evidenced in the creator's ever-present provision of infinite goodness for all His children.

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