As a kid one of my favourite movies was “The Princess Bride.” I mean, it had Andre the Giant in it – that fact alone makes it spectacular! 
The story starts with a beautiful young woman named Buttercup who lives on a farm in the fictional country of Florin. She delights in ordering the farm hand Westley to perform chores for her.
Westley’s only answer is “As you wish”.
Eventually Buttercup realizes that every time Westley says “As you wish” he was really saying “I love you.”
“There is no greater expression of love than a freely submitted will.” John Ortberg “God Is Closer Than You Think” pg. 138
Joyful Surrender or Defiant Separation
C.S. Lewis in his book “The Great Divorce
The reality is that – to some degree – our hearts are always assuming one of these postures.
As you wish
As followers of Christ we need to adopt the heart posture of “Thy will be done” – “As You wish.”
This is a daily struggle.
Sometimes it is a moment by moment struggle of lining up our wills with God’s will.
Sometimes it means putting aside our conveniences to do what God wants us to do.
Sometimes it means giving something up in our lives so that we can follow God more fully.
Sometimes it means having to step out of our comfort zone so that God’s strength can be made perfect in our weakness.
Whenever God comes to us our first response should be “As You wish.”
In what area in your life right now do you need to say to God “As You wish”?
I really need to say it in every area, but lately it's been just opening the Bible. I haven't done near enough of that.
Thanks for your honesty Scott. Don't beat yourself up for this because thankfully our failures never get the last word. We can always come to God and admit our failures knowing that He will forgive us and then we can ask Him to help us move on. I will challenge you with this: today is the day for action!
Beautiful exegesis of 1 John 1:9! If we follow Christ with a soft heart, we can indeed move on with him. That's worlds apart from hard-heartedness that would create a barrier and cause us to walk in darkness (1 John 1:6).
Thanks for joining the discussion Rich!
Great post! Not only is the topic one that we all need to hear, but you mentioned The Princess Bride and C.S. Lewis. Great use of references & examples!
FYI, for any guys who haven't seen The Princess Bride and assumes it's a "chick flick", it's not. You might could consider it a romantic comedy, but it's more action, quotable lines, and comedy than romantic. It's a movie everyone can enjoy. I highly recommend it. It's clean, too.
To those who have seen it, just the mention of "Inconceivable!" probably makes you chuckle…
Thanks for pointing that out Alexander. It is fixed now.
You are welcome!
Just an editing note…you need to take out an "e" in your "They will be done" ….I believe in second mention. Blessings!
Love that movie, Kevin. The first time my son, Wesley, saw it he was amazed that someone with his name was in a movie (I know it’s Westley but close enough!). It’s an awesome thing to surrender to His heart, mind, and direction. That doesn’t mean it’s always easy, but it’s definitely worth it. Thank you.
It is definitely not easy to always surrender to God’s will for our lives but it is indeed worth it.
Thanks for sharing Jason!
Great post, Kevin! It seems like we have to remember sometimes that we have to remember that we are not the most important part of the universe, and I think that is a mistake that far too many make. Thanks for showing the lesson from such a great movie!
It is a reminder that we all need often.
Thanks for sharing Steve!
Great thing to discuss Kev, As we all believe in the Bible, many things happen for a reason. We need to consider things.
It’s all about trusting God’s plan for our lives.
Thanks for sharing Mika!
It is really weird that you can say “I love” in multiple ways. I just have one concern, which is that if the other spouse (I’m talking about a situation in a family) overuses that he or she always says ‘as you wish’ it can turn into bad things. What do you think about that?
I hear what you are saying Alex. In our every day relationships it is not always the best thing to say “as you wish” but in our relationship with God it is critical that we follow His will for our lives.
Thanks for sharing!
Yeah, you got it wrong. You would not want to say that to your beloved person all the time because you can land in hot water, dude.
I think for whatever the God has given to me I need to be grateful to Him and accept He gives to me “As you wish” because it is He who knows very well that what is right and what is wrong for Him so His every gift – As you wish – is the most wonderful gift for me to make my life on this earth beautiful.
Great thoughts Ariana!
Thanks for sharing them with us.
Kevin, Very interesting article. In church recently, our pastor was talking about doing God’s will and how some people quit their jobs and do something like go be a missionary. My husband commented later….”You know, we actually did that!” Yes, we did. We definitely heard His call in 1999 and moved to the Philippines for nearly 8 years. It was rich and rewarding, but not w/o it’s challenges. I can’t say that has happened a lot in our life, but we knew for sure about that situation!
I appreciate your inspiration!
Lynn
That’s awesome Lynn! Thanks for sharing!
I have a deep desire to travel back to Uganda and stay for a month or so and check in on all my dear ones. Do I hear “Yes”? NO!! So, as I struggle with missing my dear families over there and could only go through His permission and provision, I can only say “As You wish”. He knows the beginning and the end. I can trust Him only… not me. Stubborness ain’t gonna bring victory.
What you have described is probably the most difficult part of submitting to God’s will over ours.
Thanks for sharing Joanne!