Sometimes I ask my children to do a chore they’d rather not. It happens quite often, actually, and they occasionally make their displeasure plain.
Oh, they do the job, but they do it with sighs and frowns and complaints. Even Matthan is capable of grumbling: “I don’t want to set the table again!”
And Cody: “You mean I have to stack firewood? I wanted to explore in the valley.” Or Alisha: “I have to bake cookies again?” Their complaining robs us all of any joy in the work.
“Some of us are slow to do God’s will,” writes Oswald Chambers in The Moral Foundations of Life. “We do it as if our shoes were iron and lead; we do it with a great sigh and with the corners of our mouths down, as if His will were the most arduous thing on earth. But when our wills are rectified and brought into harmony with God, it is a delight, a superabounding joy, to do God’s will.”13
That’s not the only place where Chambers writes on this subject. In Our Brilliant Heritage, he says, “Doing God’s will is never hard. The only thing that is hard is not doing His will. . . . God’s will is hard only when it comes up against our stubbornness. When once God has His way, we are emancipated into the very life of God.”14
What happens when the children complain when I ask them to do something that conflicts with what they wanted to do? If they grumble and frown and trudge with dragging feet to do the assigned duty, they certainly make themselves unhappy. I feel annoyed. Perhaps they need more chastening.
But how do I respond when God asks me to do something I don’t want to do?
Well, then I can see why my children respond as they do. Because sometimes I too frown and sigh, drag my feet, and whine, “Lord, you have asked a very hard thing of me. I didn’t want to do this! I wanted to continue what I was doing.”
My children don’t always respond to work with complaints. Sometimes they come running, and work cheerfully. They ask what else they can do to help me. This makes me happy, and their willingness gives them joyful hearts. They reap happiness along with my blessings and praise because they were obedient.
When I respond to God’s authority with a willing heart, I discover that his commands are not arduous or unreasonable. He gives joy and peace to anyone who responds with a cheerful “What more can I do?” instead of a whining “What more must I do?”
It’s a daily challenge. But doing the will of God is not too hard, unless I insist on making it so.
| Prayer | Reflection |
| In my heart, I want to do your will, and to do it willingly. Continue to show me how to respond to you. | In what way could I do God’s will today? |