“The Lord Willing…?”

I had the pleasure of speaking with someone this past week about the neighborhood we live in. In the midst of the conversation they asked if we had children and of course we are always pleased to say that we do. We, in turn, asked if they had children and the response is something that has kept me thinking for the better part of the week. The response: "we desire children but the Lord willing".

The statement 'the Lord willing' is often heard among people who believe. It is interesting to me how often it is said when really we should be aware of what the Lord wills is based on His Word. The statement the Lord willing is not so much a statement as it is a question. In most cases the statement of the Lord willing is a hopeful, uncertain question of: I hope the Lord wills because I do desire this but I am not sure and I am too afraid to ask Him or use my faith to overcome the obstacles that are likely in the way of the Lord's will.

We know the Bible talks about the desires of our hearts and how God longs to give us those desires. If we are walking with God why wouldn't He will those desires in our lives? My guess is that most of the desires in us were put there by God in the first place. There were very few times in the Bible where the will of God was unknown and most of the time it was not so much an issue with not knowing the will of God but an issue with struggling to do the will of God; thus the prayer: Not my will but your will be done. This prayer was prayed by Jesus before going to the cross; this was not a prayer said because he did not know the will of the Father, it was said because it was difficult to do the will of the Father. If the Bible tells us what the will of God is why do we struggle with it?

The answer to the question: the Lord willing…? Is YES, most of the time I do believe that God is willing to bless us with the desires we have in our hearts! With me, my huge revelation of this was in my infertility battle. When we first found out we were unlikely to have children we got many responses from people that it must not be God's will for us to have children… This was a crushing thought to me, but it led me to dig in to the Word for myself and find out the answer. Is it God's will for me to have children? What is your question? What do you need to find in God's Word to see the answer of His will? "The Lord willing" needs to transform from a question to a statement of declaration and victory. The Lord is willing to bless His children!