Paul, in our epistle lesson, recognizes that it is God’s gracious will that has turned him around from being a zealous Pharisee harassing those who had found the Way to an apostle of Christ Jesus who is the Way. It is fear of that kind of radical change in our lives that makes us nervous about discovering God’s will for us. No matter how often we pray “thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” in the Lord’s Prayer, however, we don’t seem to worry about God’s will knocking us down as it did Paul; after all, that prayer is for the whole earth, not you or me in particular.

We’re right about that; we need not fear. God’s will for us, for each of us and all of us, is love. Just look at Jesus’ parable in our gospel; imagine, for a moment, yourself as the victim in the story—what would it look like in your life? It is not God’s will when we find ourselves set upon by the thugs of the world, but it happens. It is not God’s will for those we look to for help to pass by on the other side, ignoring our plight as they pursue their personal agendas, but it happens. As we wait almost at the end of our tether, God’s tender loving care for us shows up from where we would least expect help to come. It is that surprise that opens our eyes to recognize the hand of God at work in our lives, incarnating love when and where we need it. As Paul reminds us, “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God,” (Rom.8:28) even when it is not immediately obvious. Therein lies our hope.

After a lifetime of experience of serving God, George Appleton, Anglican priest and missionary in Asia, Archbishop of Perth, Australia and later of Jerusalem, knew there was nothing to fear from God’s will as he testifies in this prayer: “O Lord, my God, your will is holy, loving, and wise. Let your will be done in me, for me, through me, in spite of me; for the sake of him whose greatest joy was to do your will, even Jesus Christ our Lord.” Once we can let go of our fear and trust in God’s never-failing love, we can join our voices with Appleton’s and be glad that the prayer that never fails is, according to Jan Karon in her charming series of novels whose protagonist is an Episcopal priest in the North Carolina mountains, “thy will be done.”