Thy Will Be Done?

Does God have a master plan for the whole world? Are we just disposable pawns in this master plan? Must we always do God’s will to be happy? This article tries to answer these questions.

The Gospels

In Matthew’s gospel (written in the 80s CE), we read, “Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:9–10, KJV, emphasis mine) Interestingly, according to the ‘New American Bible,’ in Luke’s gospel (written in the 90s CE), we don’t read the same thing: “Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.” (Luke 11:2, NAB) Notice that according to the ‘New American Bible’ (NAB), the clause “thy will be done” is missing in Luke’s gospel. We do find the clause in the ‘King James Version’ (KJV), but it seems to be a copyist’s addition (a gloss). We find this clause in only 9 out of 32 English translations: https://biblehub.com/luke/11-2.htm.

[Note: According to ‘Wikipedia,’ the ‘New American Bible’ (NAB) translation “was carried out in stages by members of the ‘Catholic Biblical Association of America’ (CBA).” (Wikipedia: “New American Bible,” accessed April 9, 2024) “[CBA] Membership now numbers more than 1,200. Those who hold an advanced degree in biblical studies are eligible to be elected to membership, irrespective of any religious affiliation.” (Wikipedia: “Catholic Biblical Association,” accessed April 9, 2024) I’d like to point out, therefore, that the ‘New American Bible’ isn’t just the opinion of a single or a handful of biblical scholars: indeed, “over 50 [biblical] scholars” were assigned to its translation: https://www.amazon.ca/Catholic-Student-Bible-NABRE-World-Press/dp/0529064847.]

Moreover, surprisingly, we don’t even find the Lord’s Prayer in Mark’s gospel (written in the 70s CE), which both Matthew and Luke used as a skeleton for their gospels—thus constituting the three ‘synoptic gospels.’ The point I’m trying to make, here, is that the clause “thy will be done” does not seem to be an original petition of Jesus: it seems to be an addition by the evangelist Matthew; and later added to Luke’s gospel by Christian copyists.

Doctrine

In the original Baltimore Catechism of 1885, we read, “Why did God make you? God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.” (Q. 6, emphasis mine) Notice the concept of servitude toward God. However, good parents don’t give birth to children so they themselves may be served: they give birth to children so the latter may have a life of their own. It’s the devil who is a user, not God.

Somewhat surprisingly, in the Catechism of the Catholic Church of 1994, the concept of servitude toward God is aptly deleted; we read, “God calls man to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his strength.” (p. 11, ¶ 1)

God’s Invitation

In his fantastic book The Misunderstood God, former pastor, homeless outreach director, and relationships speaker, Darin Hufford, opines that religion often portrays God with the personality of the devil: the subtitle of this book is The Lies Religion Tells about God. He writes several times, “We have been lied to about God.” (e.g., pp. 7, 10)

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with serving God, but only if one so wishes. We may live our life entirely without him, and he wouldn’t hold a grudge; he’s more of a ‘gentleman’ than that. He doesn’t really need our friendship, but he wishes every one of us to have a personal relationship with him. So, one shouldn’t be too obsessed with serving God all the time: there’s nothing wrong with solely serving loved ones and leaving some space for oneself to have some fun in life, as well. God gave us life as a gift, with no strings attached: to enjoy it any way we want, and not for his own sake, nor for the sake of others.

At the other end of the spectrum, however, life becomes somewhat empty without a meaningful relationship with someone: that is, catering only for oneself. Thus, in the depth of our being, God planted a seed encouraging us to live our life responsibly and even altruistically. “All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” (Matthew 7:12, KJV; see also Luke 6:31) When we love others, we automatically love God because “God is love. … If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar.” (1 John 4:16, 20 KJV)

Master Plan

Many Christians believe that “everything happens for a reason”: that God is continually using us to achieve his master plan for the future of the whole world, and no matter what we do, we cannot derail his plan. This is ludicrous since many awful things happen because of our evil inclinations, and many things happen by chance—like the lottery, or the throw of a dice.

Christianity teaches that God always has his way: that he apparently has this super plan not only for every individual but also for the whole world that will not be thwarted by any means or by anyone. The Church teaches us that we are basically God’s mindless slaves; that it’s better for us to do his will voluntarily, or else he would break our spirit. Moreover, the Church teaches us that we should worship and praise God constantly, lest he forgets his greatness, I surmise. If worship is not heartfelt, it’s fake: we would be better off not doing it at all; God can see through us. Hufford compares it to the wife who has sex reluctantly with her husband (p.72).

Occasionally, one might be moved by God’s unconditional love for us, the beauty and balance of nature, or his design abilities in his creations; but not all the time. Also, trying to sell to others God’s greatness, without really feeling it deep inside our being, is false advertising—that’s not loving him. God is not after our fearful or servient admiration: he is after our heart (p. 76).

Whenever we seek God with all our heart, he will listen to us, he will let us ‘find’ him, and he might even change our lot, but only if he foresees that it would make us better versions of ourselves: “When you call me [God], and come and pray to me, I will listen to you. When you look for me, you will find me. Yes, when you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me… and I will change your lot.” (Jeremiah 29:12–14, NAB)

Our Choice

Hufford then gives us one of the most beautiful portraits of God. He contends that if you were to ask God what he wants from you, he will probably answer that he doesn’t really know; he will simply ask you back what you would like to do (p. 102). I must admit I never thought of it that way before I read Hufford’s book: I always thought God knew everything beforehand. Maybe, God doesn’t really know our future after all! If he did, where does our free will fit in? (See my article on “Free Will & Predestination.”)

In fact, we don’t have any tangible evidence of God’s ever being able to foretell the future—not even from biblical accounts, as I show in my two articles on “Bible Prophecies” (Textual & Claimed). While he possibly knows what will make us better individuals, he lets us find our own way; he would not dictate nor suggest which way we should take: he lets us make our own decisions. However, if we have an intimate personal relationship with him, we will probably see things in a new light.

Jesus

Some might object, here, pointing out that Jesus always did his Father’s will, and that, as Christians, we should imitate him. It’s worthwhile looking into this objection. However, Jesus is an exceptional case. We must keep in mind that Jesus had a mission; he knew it because, in all probability, his mother, Mary, must have told him of his miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit (see my article on “Mary’s Virginity”). He accepted this mission willingly; it wasn’t imposed on him by God, he researched it in Scriptures, as I show in the following paragraph.

In Luke’s gospel, we read, “He [Jesus] came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias [Isaiah]. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.’ And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, ‘This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.’” (Luke 4:16–21, KJV) Then, in Matthew’s gospel, we read, “Jesus answered and said unto them [John the Baptist’s disciples], ‘Go and shew John [the Baptist] again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in [shocked by] me.’” (Matthew 11:4–6, KJV)

I don’t want the reader to get me wrong, here; there’s nothing wrong in following, voluntarily, what one feels is a ‘divine’ calling—like the priesthood or a missionary calling—the same way one follows a medical, legal, or teaching profession. My point is that one doesn’t have to become unduly concerned or obsessed in trying to find what God’s will is for one’s life: fearing that otherwise one would experience a miserable life.

In Jesus’s case, God conceived Jesus to show us his love in human terms: a love that’s ready to die for others—provided Jesus agreed to go along, of course. During Jesus’s agony in the garden, we read, “He [Jesus] was withdrawn from them [his disciples] about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, saying, ‘Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.’” (Luke 22:41–42, KJV; see also Matthew 26:39, 42, 44; Mark 14:36 & John 12:27, 28) Naturally, Jesus was scared of his impending crucifixion, but God wanted to endorse Jesus in a special manner: in other words, in order to leave no doubt regarding his eventual resurrection, Jesus had to die a public death. This is probably what the consoling angel told Jesus: “And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.” (Luke 22:43, KJV)

Christ’s Teaching

“I [Jesus] am come that they [we] might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10, KJV) Jesus condemns his contemporary Pharisees’ and Sadducees’ numerous rules and regulations (much like modern Church hierarchy): “Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! For ye lade [load] men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers” (Luke 11:46, KJV) So he tells us, “Come unto me [Jesus], all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28–30, KJV) Jesus simply asks us to take on the everyday challenges of life calmly and gladly: “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil [trouble] thereof.” (Matthew 6:34, KJV) So don’t fret too much about the future: remember, we get life one breath at a time!

Conclusion

Relax and enjoy life responsibly and altruistically; and if you feel you want a personal, fearless relationship with God, so much the better.

References

Bible Hub: https://biblehub.com/.

De Concilio, Januarius. Baltimore Catechism: A Catechism of Christian Doctrine, Prepared and Enjoined by Order of the Third Council of Baltimore. Baltimore, MD, 1885.

Hufford, Darin. The Misunderstood God: The Lies Religion Tells about God. Newbury Park, CA: Windblown Media, 2009. (ISBN: 9781935170051)

Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Catechism of the Catholic Church. Translated by Concacan Inc. Ottawa, ON: Publications Services, Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1994. (ISBN: 0889972818)

New American Bible: Revised Edition. Translated from the original languages, authorized by the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, and approved by the United States Confraternity of Catholic Bishops. Totowa, NJ: Catholic Book Publishing Corp., 2010. (ISBN: 9780899429519)

The Holy Bible: King James Version. Oxford, UK, 1769.

Wikipedia s.v. “Catholic Biblical Association,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Biblical_Association, last edited September 10, 2023.

Wikipedia s.v. “New American Bible,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_American_Bible, last edited March 13, 2024.

Author’s Books

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(1) Is God a Reality?—A Scientific Investigation:

https://www.iuniverse.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/740913-Is-God-a-Reality,

(2) Is the Bible Infallible?—A Rational, Scientific, and Historical Evaluation:

https://www.iuniverse.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/792987-is-the-bible-infallible, and

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