NOT MY WILL, BUT YOURS, BE DONE
In Matthew, Jesus gave us the key to rest - letting things go. Later, when He faced His imminent death, He gave us a key to help us let things go.
Matthew 11:28-30
28 “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my toke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Luke 22:42
42 … Saying, “Father, if it is your will, take this cup away from me; nevertheless not my will, but Yours, be done.”
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| *Image courtesy of freebibleimages.com |
Not my will, but Yours, be done.
Have you ever wrestled with that statement that Jesus made? He instructed us to pray this same thing daily in the Lord’s prayer - “ . . . Let your will be done and your kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven . . .” It is hard for me to pray this prayer at times. I am sure it is hard for you. Sometimes when I pray it I feel like a fraud.
Not my will, but Yours, be done.
What do I do if God is telling me I have to sacrifice my time off at work to go feed the poor?
Not my will, but Yours, be done.
What if God is asking you to face your greatest fear?
Not your will, but His, be done.
What if God wakes us up at two am asking us to pray?
Not our will, but His, be done.
Why is it so hard to surrender our wills? Everyone has a will, and has learned from a very young age that if they exert it then they may get what they want. Yet, we often don’t get what we want. In fact, more times than not, although we exert our wills we still don’t get what we want, and we are left disappointed, upset, and sometimes even worse, depressed.
We simply do not let go of our wills. This is why there is so much suffering in this world. What would the world be like if Vladimir Putin surrendered his will to God? Or Ayatollah Khamenei? Or Benjamin Netanyahu? Or really, any of us? Take a drive through the city during rush hour, and you will see countless wills on display - big trucks bullying their way through traffic, sports cars weaving around others like they were cones on a race track, people flashing their lights, honking, and tailgating. It’s all a display of will. They are all saying, “not anyone else’s will, but my mine, be done this afternoon. I’m more important than everyone else.” Rush hour traffic is just a microchosm of a greater issue - we, humankind, have a systemic problem with surrendering our wills. Yet, in this surrender lies the secret to rest. When Jesus says, “give me your yoke,” He is asking us to surrender our wills. He wouldn’t ask us to do anything that He didn’t do, and that is why all the times his surrendered will was on display were so important - especially in the garden of Gethsemane when He told the Father that He didn’t want to take of the cup, but yet He would still surrender His own will, which He did. He surrendered, and because of what He went through, He did the greatest thing that anyone has ever done in the history of humankind - offered free salvation for all souls, past, present and future.
I learned an important lesson about letting things go and surrendering my will. This lesson recently cost me $555, but in reality it was probably more valuable than any gold. I had been yearning for a family ski vacation, which entailed renting a cabin or condo, and then those in the family who wanted to ski could spend as much time during the day skiing. I was hoping for a cozy, relaxing getaway with a chance to teach two of my kids how to ski followed by eating delicious food while enjoying gorgeous Colorad mountain backdrops. Sounds amazing, right? I almost got what I wished for. I made the reservations. The plans were in place. We were to visit the week before spring vacation, March 4-6. Then one day in late January I received a call from the resort: “This is *** Resort, and we are calling to check in with you to see if you will still be visiting us January 28-30th.”
January 28-30th??!! It was January 29th when I received that call. Someone or something made an error, because the reservations I made were for March 4-6. I made that clear to the person, and then was told to call customer service. I did that, and they tried to help me, but ultimately they told me that since I was already into the reservation, I couldn’t reschedule or get a refund. I was positive I reserved March 4-6th, but the resort claimed that I reserved January 28-30th, sending me an email to prove it. I was livid. Not only did I not get my ski vacation, but I was also out $555. I tried disputing it, but in the end God told me to let it go. I am trying to let it go. I do need His help to do it, and I pray for that every day. Why is it so important that I let it go? Firstly, it saves me heartache and possibly the heart problems that come with being angry about things; but most importantly, it recenters me on what is more important, the very thing I try to pray every day: “ . . . Your Kingdom come and Your will will be done, on earth as it is in heaven . . .”
Not my will, but Yours, be done.
So next time you pray that prayer, don’t think of it as something that cannot be achieved; rather, surrender and trust in God (activate your faith), and see what He can do!
*Image source: https://www.freebibleimages.org/illustrations/gnpi-089-prayer-garden/
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