The Perfect Plan

A Reflection on the Second Reading for December 19th, 2021:
Fourth Sunday of Advent

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​Hebrews
10.5-10

Brothers and sisters: When Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book, ‘See, God, I have come to do your will, O God.’”

When Christ said, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the Law), then he added, “See, I have come to do your will.” He abolishes the first in order to establish the second.

And it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
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“See, l have come to do your will.”


Doing the will of God has become my daily challenge.


Over the course of my life, I have done many things and made many choices, like who I would be friends with, what university I would attend, where I would work, who I would marry, where I would live, etc. The majority of these choices were made with a lot of consideration for what I thought would have the best outcome for me. What should I choose in order to be happiest, most content, most fulfilled? Sometimes the outcome was fruitful, sometimes not. Sometimes I was left broken by the choices I had made in a way that was hard to fix. Sometimes the brokenness had a life-long effect. 


Somewhere along the way I began to see a pattern taking shape. When I do what I think is the best thing for me, the outcome is volatile, sometimes life-giving, and sometimes not. When I pray and discern a decision with God and the people I love and trust, the outcome is trustworthy, fruitful, and brings peace and joy — not just to me, but to those around me. 


In this excerpt from the letter to the Hebrews, the author tells us that Christ came to do God’s will, to sacrifice His life for the redemption of the world, so the old ways could be “abolished” and Christ would be the new way that would lead us to God.


“And it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:10)


God’s will for our lives is perfect. He has the perfect plan for us, to sanctify us so we can live in eternity with Him. Do we want to compete with God over what’s best for us or do we want to cooperate with Him? 


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Oh God, today I choose to trust your perfect plan for me. Today I choose to ask You what the next right step is for me. Today I choose to do Your will. Amen.




Maxine Brown

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