Spiritual Perspectives
Searching for God’s Will

By Tom Richtsmeier
Special to The Independent

When I was a kid in Wisconsin, and later a husband, father and doctor in Idaho, I heard a lot about God’s will. God’s will, it seemed, was the reason behind all the hard, tragic, and inexplicable events in life.

A young friend died in a car accident — why? “It was God’s will.” My beautiful young cousin, Anne, developed post measles encephalopathy, which slowly ate her brain. First she became blind, then she couldn’t walk, then couldn’t talk, then became comatose and died. Why? “It must have been God’s will.” A friend got cancer, and despite surgery, chemotherapy, and thousands of prayers, suffered and died. Why? Where was God’s will in this?

I used to think, “Who is this God who goes around smiting people, seemingly unmoved by sorrow, suffering, and prayer? And why does He have such unpleasant designs on our lives?” As a young man I thought, “Jesus, what about my will; doesn’t it count for anything? You said I could ask and be heard, knock and the door would be opened; what’s the deal here?” I could imagine a huge monolith like the Grand Teton with God’s will for everyone chiseled all over it. Mistakenly, I came to believe that God’s will and mine would often be working for different purposes.

Then life and faith and marriage and children and friends and spiritual masters show you different ways to understand life and trust God. I’ve come to believe that God’s will gets bad press because, when things go bad here on earth, we say its God’s will; but when things are going great — we’ve got a wonderful family, a great job, a warm happy home filled with stuff, happy restful holidays of food and family — we say, “Boy, I’m sure glad I worked my behind off so I could enjoy all this!”

This is terribly wrong! Every saint, and all of the poor of this world, know this is wrong. All wrong. Everything is gift. It is the Lord’s will to shower us with gifts, gifts of every kind. Not so much things or the “good life,” but all the gifts we need. Beginning with the gift of life, and legs that walk, skills that others pay you for, arms that hug and help, and eyes that can read this newspaper. And He gives us our own will, a little like His, but we are free to love Him, or ignore Him, or look around to see if there’s anyone else offering a deal. Why should one so much as care about His will? Because nothing else on heaven and earth can make you happier. No one wants us to succeed and be full of true happiness (a.k.a. joy), more than God.

So you might ask, what exactly is God’s will? Does He have a plan for my life? How can I discover God’s will? There are at least three trusty ways to find it. One can start with the Bible, because there is a vast treasury of advice and stories about this. One of the characters in the Bible who wrestled with God’s will and his own was King David. He made his share of mistakes, yet He always came back to God. In Psalm 40 he wrote:

I have waited, waited for the Lord,
And He stooped toward me and heard my cry.
Sacrifice or offering you wished not,
but ears open to obedience you gave me.
Holocausts or sin offering you sought not.
Then I said, “Behold, I come to do your will.
To do your will, O God, is now, my delight!

Jesus of Nazareth, whom Christians believe to be God’s very Son and our redeemer, was given — at least in part — the same will we have, yet He constantly sought first His Father’s will. This must have been what he was seeking in his long hours of prayer. In John 8:38 Jesus says, “I declare to you, what I have seen in the Father’s presence.” This is the second great way to discover God’s will: seek it in prayer. You can be certain He will reveal it to you. Not in a new e-mail that appears every day on your computer, but a sense of what is right and good. And even if you make a mistake, when you act in faith, you will find Him helping you clean up the mess. Paul says in Romans 8:28, “God works with those who love Him…and turns everything to their good.” The firm belief that He will lead you and care for you, even when things seem to be going wrong, is what is meant by “faith.”

In the book of Acts, we find much going against or wrong in the early church. We watch Peter and the apostles and then Paul and his converts to “the way” of Christ, pray and take counsel together to discover what God has in mind. This is the third great way to discover God’s will: seek the advice of Christian friends and those of deep spiritual insight.

But, first of all, it is the Father’s will that we come to know Him through His Son. It is tempting to think God’s will is prayers and devotions and attendance. These are good, but they are not the primary will of God. Jesus quotes Hosea to say, “Go and learn the meaning of the words; it is mercy and love that pleases me, not sacrifices. (Matt 9:13) Jesus did tell us what is God’s will — that we love God with all our heart (not half heartedly) and to love our neighbor as ourselves (as on a day we love our self and are really good to our self.) And, remember the prayer Jesus gave us, “…may your kingdom come, Your will be done, today, by me (a little gloss there) as it is in heaven.”

Now that I have come to know Him — just a little — I want more and more to know His will and to serve Him. “May I know you more clearly, love you more dearly, follow you more nearly, day by day.” (St. Richard of Chichester) You might ask, “How can I find out what God’s will is?” It is this: Believe in His Son and follow His commands. In church? Of course. At school? Yes, at school. At work? Yes, especially at work. At the ball field? Yes, His kingdom needs you there as well. Every where. How will you know you are in God’s will? You will be surrounded by peace, the Shalom of God.

Martina McBride wrote and recorded a song, “God’s Will” that you can listen to on YouTube.com if you Google the title. It sounds a lot like Psalm 40, but in 21st century American English. The chorus goes:

I’ve been searchin’, wonderin’, thinkin’
Lost and lookin’ all my life
I’ve been wounded, jaded, loved, and hated
I’ve wrestled wrong and right...
I’ve been readin’, writin’, prayin’, fightin’
I guess I would be still
Yeah, that was until
I knew God’s will
Shalom!

Thomas E. Richtsmeier, M.D., is the chief of cardiology at the Gallup Indian Medical Center, president of CARE 66, and a permanent deacon at Sacred Heart Cathedral Parish. He can be contacted at tomandjeanrich@gmail.com.

This column is written by area residents, representing different faith communities, who share their ideas about bringing a spiritual perspective into our daily lives and community issues.

For information about contributing a guest column, contact Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola at The Independent: (505) 863-6811 ext. 218 or lizreligion01@yahoo.com.