Thy Will Be Done by Andrew Murray

ii8
Thy Will Be Done
that it was addressed to slaves. At that time almost
all
servants were slaves, entirely, even with their life,
at the disposal of their masters, and with no rights
in law. Many of the early Christians were slaves,
of the base and despised whom God had chosen.
Their servitude was often harsh and thankless,
and
the very liberty and brotherhood which the Gospel
preached would only make some of them feel all the
more the bondage they endured. To such Paul
writes to be obedient to their masters, as unto Christ,
and to perform all their service as the will of God
from the heart.
If this was expected of these slaves,
just come out of heathenism, in circumstances of such
difficulty, it is surely time that our Christianity had
learned the lesson that everything we do, even the
compulsory or ill-requited
service of a hard master,
is to be done as the will of God.
And how can this disposition be attained? Only
in one way.
By heartily accepting any position into
which Providence brings us as God's will for us.
Then the work we have to do in that position will be
God's will for us. In our opening chapter we saw^
that one of the first lessons in the Christian life is to
accept every trouble that comes to us from the mistakes
of ourselves or others or the trial of circumstances
as God's appointment. His Providence is