Jesus went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed,
saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass
from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
(Matthew 26:39)
Thoughts… Where is the greatest place in the world to be? In the very center of God’s will, that’s where!
And when we can learn to not only pray, but earnestly desire God’s will for our lives—unpleasant and undesired circumstances notwithstanding—then we will have discovered what Jesus knew all along when he prayed that prayer: The Divine “eye” of the Satanic storm.
Jesus desired his Father’s will more than anything else—even life itself. He knew his purpose in life was to fulfill God’s will, which was to redeem a lost world by his sacrificial death. He entrusted his own personal preferences to the One who not only works out all things for His own glory, but for the good of His children as well. (Romans 8:28)
That’s why Jesus, “the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Jesus knew that the path to the crown was by way of the cross.
So what about you? Have you come to that place where you can subjugate your own preferences to the will of God? When you can so entrust your life to the Father’s perfect plan, no matter what that means, you will have discovered, as Jesus did, the best place in the world to be.
Hebrews 12:1-3 reminds us,
“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [Jesus and other who heroically fulfilled God’s will], let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.”
Are you struggling with God’s will? Does it seem a little too much to handle? Consider Jesus! Endure your cross now; afterwards comes the crown!
Before he was martyred by the Naizis, German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in a letter from prison, “Much that worries us beforehand can afterwards, quite unexpectedly, have a happy and simple solution… Things really are in a better hand than ours.”
That’s why you can pray, “Father, not my will, but Yours be done!” Your life—unpleasant and undesired circumstances notwithstanding—is in better hands than yours.
And after your cross, if you endure by doing the will of the Father, comes the crown.
Prayer… Father, not my will, but yours be done!
One More Thing… “God knows our situation; He will not judge us as if we had no difficulties to overcome. What matters is the sincerity and perseverance of our will to overcome them.” —C.S. Lewis
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