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Thy Will Be Done


What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not obtain. The elect among them did, but the others were hardened, as it is written: 
“God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see
    and ears that could not hear, to this very day.”
And David says:
“May their table become a snare and a trap,
    a stumbling block and a retribution for them.
10 May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see,
    and their backs be bent forever.” (Romans 11:7-10)

“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’” C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce

          In reading today’s passage, some people might think God is harsh. He gives some people what they sought earnestly, and others He gave a spirit of stupor, eyes that couldn’t see, ears that couldn’t hear, and a table that became a snare, a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution. It’s not fair for God to withhold Himself from some people.
          Those people should back up, historically speaking. In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve chose to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil because they wanted to be “like the Most High.” God gave mankind what we wanted. Some may claim it’s not fair that Adam and Eve chose for all of mankind, but how could they teach what they didn’t know? How could they bring up their children to be what they could not be themselves? At that point, God gave us all spirits of stupor, eyes and can’t see and ears that can’t hear. God doesn’t draw lots when we’re conceived and inflict those things on this person, but not that person. What do you think would happen if part of a population was perfect and the other part sinful? I think that before long, the perfect ones would be dead, and the human race would be back in the same situation we’re in now.
      The problem is even though Israel earnestly sought, they earnestly sought in the wrong direction. They still do, and so do we. I think Mr. Lewis was incorrect in his statement from The Great Divorce. There is only one kind of person in the world, the sort to which God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.” That has been God’s message since Genesis 3. Some people’s will is to do God’s will. They might not be good at it, but it is their choice. Most will not to do God’s will.
          Curiously, the people who complain that it’s not fair that God doesn’t over-rule their will are the same folks who reject God’s will and ridicule or pity those who do choose to live according to God’s will. “Poor me, I’m not part of the elect, but who would want to be?” The things that get in the way of our wanting to do God’s will aren’t God, they are our table (our appetites), the things we want more than God, so that the light of our eyes, our focus, is on the table. We might complain that God made us that way, but the truth is that most of us wouldn’t have it any other way, and consider those who would to be the foolish ones.

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