On earth as it is in heaven
The Lord taught that we should pray that his “will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10) Much of what happens here does not reflect his will. When Jesus came here, he did things no other man had done1, because he did and said all the things the Father would do were he in his place.2, 3 As we keep the Lord’s instruction to bring about the Father’s will here on earth, we will—like Jesus—obtain outcomes that have never before been obtained. Faith is what causes us to notice God’s unfulfilled will here and attempt to do what no one else has done to bring it to pass.
In the parable of the talents, the king suggests that, at a minimum, the slothful servant could have put his money into a bank to earn interest (see Matthew 25). This is like using what is already here to obtain beneficial outcomes. However, God wants us to produce much more than this, which is like multiplying what he has already given us. We do this through faith.
Normal people react to the rest of the world. Faithful people act upon the world. A person with faith does not subvert the choice of others. However, a person with faith will relentlessly see and do things that others will not see and do. Invariably, they leave in their wake outcomes that never would have otherwise occurred, notwithstanding the agency of all other people with which they have interacted.
Normal people conform their thoughts to things that act upon them. The faithful conform things to thoughts, through action. Faithful people act upon other people and things to bring about outcomes that would not otherwise occur.
Normal people live in such a way that the world would be no worse without them. The faithful remake the world in their own image. God made man in his image, not the other way around. Those who act like him will do the same.
Normal people react to their space of possibilities from the finite space of their surroundings. Faithful people create their surroundings from the infinite space of ideas.
People act according to what they are willing to do and what they believe is possible. A faithful person will act very differently than a normal person because they will gladly do anything God wants them to (see Psalm 112:1), and they believe God when he says all things are possible (see Matthew 19:26).
Footnotes
- 1. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. (John 15:24) ↩
- 2. And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him. (John 8:29) ↩
- 3. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. (John 17:6-8) ↩