“Lord, Let It Be To Me According To Your Will!”

“Lord, Let It Be To Me According To Your Will!”
As punishment for the adulterous and murderous union between David and Bathsheba, God struck the child of that union with illness. David fasted in true penitence with the hope that the child may survive. The child died.
His servants were afraid to tell him, thinking he may harm himself. But when it was confirmed to him that the child had died he took his bath, asked for food and ate. His servants could not understand his behaviour.
When they questioned him he gave this profound response: “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’ But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”
There are times that we waste our enegies crying over oil that has spilled on sand. No amount of lamentation over what God has decreed can alter the situation.
Edgar N. Jackson concludes his book, Understanding Grief with these words: “… If we can help people clearly to mark the way between what is real and what is false, they will be able to accept life and death with a wisdom that fulfils rather than destroys. Then we can pray and teach: O God, give me the serenity to accept what cannot be changed. Give me the courage to change what can be changed. And the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.”
This prayer by Reinhold Niebhur captures David’s behaviour and the words he spoke to the servants. There is absolutely no reason to worry over things which you can do nothing about. In the course of such worries you may lose sight of God’s other miracles.
God did not bring the child back to life, but he gave the couple another child. “…David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and lay with her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved him” (II Sam. 12:15b-24). We all know who and what Solomon became. The ways of God are hidden from us and we cannot understand. But in faith and by faith we just have to trust in him and accept our paths the way he has charted. Learn to be repentant and be ready for God’s chastisement.
Prayer of the week: Lord, let it be to me this day according to your will. Amen!
Welcome back to a new working week. Have a blessed day! Peace be with you!