Simple? Not Really!

   I entered my quiet time this morning with thoughts of what I should pray for and about as I start this new day. There were my perceived needs and also my wants. There were others in trouble and pain that I knew about, and there were thoughts about what my day ahead would look like

   I had the feeling that God knew all about these people and each and every situation, including those that would affect my life today.

   Then I remembered a quote from Jan Karon's Mitford series, where Father Tim would always bring up "the prayer that never fails". A simple, but yet profound, utterance to God "Thy Will Be Done".

   I thought about all of that as I walked in the pre-dawn stillness, and related this simple prayer to the reading in Psalms 131, where David writes:

"O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me."

   I thought of the two main ways that this prayer, and this reading can be taken. I can feel David's thoughts, and I can see this prayer manifested in two completely opposite directions.

   I can see this phrase tacked on to the end of a prayer as if to say, "OK, God, these are the things that I need and want, but, whatever". It is a prayer of resignation, that no matter my thoughts and wishes, God will just go ahead and do what He wants, regardless. It is a trusting to Fate, whatever that is, a feeling that it really does not matter what I feel, whatever will be will be.

   Then there is the sense that this simple prayer can be the realization that God is in control, but also that He works out everything for my best interest and wellbeing. He listens to what I have to say, and what I am concerned about, but then quietly says, "Trust Me, I know what is best for you right now, even if you can't see it".

   So I pray this morning "Thy Will Be Done", knowing that God cares, and that is all that matters.

   And I also pray that He will help me remember that when life happens today.