"Nothing gave Buttercup as much pleasure as ordering Westley around. . . . 'As you wish' was all he ever said to her. . . . [One day when she asked him to fill buckets with water] she was amazed to discover that when he was saying, 'As you wish,' what he meant was, 'I love you.' And even more amazing was the day she realized she truly loved him back."
-The Grandfather, an opening scene from The Princess Bride
"If you love Me, you will keep My commandments."
-The Lord Jesus Christ to His disciples, the night before His crucifixion, John 14:15
My Father asks me, invites me:
"Will you trust Me with this dear one facing unexpected job loss with a mortgage and hungry little mouths to feed?"
"Will you trust Me with these faithful disciples facing the long, arduous recovery from a stroke, all their resources strained?"
"Will you trust Me with this friend, longing for a womb filled with child but facing instead a body filled with cancer?"
"Will you trust Me with these gospel workers you love, weary with heartache and toil beyond their strength, these ones whose needs you cannot supply?"
"Will you trust Me with your body, with illness and health, with the collateral damage from both the inactivity and medicines prescribed for your recovery? With the impact of your weaknesses on others?"
"All these problems you cannot solve. . .
"Will you trust Me?"
Faith responds, "As You wish," and "as You wish" means, "I love You."
"As I wish" breaks the first and greatest command to love the LORD my God first, with all, nothing held back.
"As I wish" thinks too highly of the illusion of my own wisdom and judgment and too little of the steadfast love, faithfulness, goodness, and mercy of God.
"As I wish" forgets my Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane, sweating blood and praying as He faced the cross, "Not as I wish, but as You wish."
"As you wish" means, "I love you."
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep" (John 10:11, HCSB).
"No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13, HCSB).
Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:10, HCSB).
We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19, HCSB).
Abba, Father, forgive me for withholding love from You by fighting for my wishes instead of Yours. Thank You for the example of Christ, who chose Your will for love of You and for love of Your children. Even for love of me. I repent in dust and ashes. Let His Spirit in me strengthen and change me to pray and truly mean, "Abba, Father, as You wish." In Christ our Lord, Amen.
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