As I stood by the hospital bed of an aged widow in our congregation, she gave way to emotion as she related to me how she had failed the Lord in letting Him out of some plans she had been making. Through her tears she told me: “When I was making my plans, I should have said, ”If the Lord will . . .‘ I’ll plan to attend; and because I didn’t give Him the credit, think God allowed me to suffer this fall and to experience all this pain.”
I began to protest, but Sister Mabel continued: “The Bible says that when we make plans we ought to say ‘If the Lord will …, we shall live and do this or that’”. “And,” she added, “when I made these particular plans, I didn’t say ‘If the Lord will…’‘ to my neighbors when I called and they agreed to pick me up.”
Of course I knew that Mabel was right. In the daily rush of life, we so often default in our realization that for us there may be no tomorrows! Hence we too should say, “If the Lord will. .. “! “If the Lord will . . . ” is really an acknowledgment of who God really is… the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
When the Apostle Paul left the Ephesians he “. . . bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem. But I will return again unto you, if God will.” (Acts 18:21) Paul also wrote to the Corinthian Church, “. . . I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will.” (1 Corinthians 4: 19) The Apostle was indeed sensitive to God’s ultimate supremacy in all our tomorrows, and the fact that life is so uncertain.
I understand that years ago many people in their letterwriting would end by using the initials “D. V.” which is really an abbreviation of two Latin words, “Deo Volente” (“God willing…“).
“If the Lord will . . . ” is a phrase of great power and acknowledgement of God’s supremacy. By employing it sincerely in our lives, “If the Lord will . . .” puts us in partnership with the Eternal!
July/August 1981