Not my will but yours Lord. This phrase uttered by Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane holds great wisdom and great meaning for us as believers. There is a lesson to be learned here.  

Christ said these words regarding a very troubling future he knew was coming. His horrific death, the pain, and the suffering he knew that he would have to endure.  All this was on his mind when he said those words that perhaps he had said many times before in easier times. In his grief he cried out “let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not my will but yours be done.”

His mother, years before, when she was just a teenager and being told by God that she would conceive through the power of the Holy Spirit God’s very son, Emmanuel, had a very similar response. Becoming mother to Jesus was a daunting and even dangerous for this young teenage engaged Jewish girl. She knew what challenges she would face.  How would she tell her parents? How would she tell Joseph? By law she could have been stoned or at the very least put aside by Joseph. What would the people around her think?

Well, she knew what they would think, but how would she deal with that public judgement. I’m sure in that moment she was well aware of the significance of what was happening and the impacts it would have on her, but she still said to God” Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” 

Mother and son, both facing known trouble and pain, yet they still said God do as you will. Wow! What an example for us as believers. Not only in the easy times or in the good moments do we surrender to the will of God but also when you see the storms ahead and know that we have to go through them.  There are inescapable storms you cannot avoid in life.  These are times that you will have to go through pain, suffering, and uncertainty. That somehow these things are a part of God’s plan for you seems inconceivable. How could that be, and can we still say in those moment, “your will be done?” Will we still choose to say “Your Will God, not mine.”

We pray the Lord’s prayer so much we don’t even realize that the phrase “thy will be done” is there.  We don’t realize what it means, that simple phrase. It is in fact a part of the Lord’s  prayer. “Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done.” Did you catch that? We pray that phrase in the Lord’s prayer too, but do we mean it?

Do we really mean no matter what your will is Lord? Whether it is for moments of ease or in times of trial.  Whether it is during times of struggles and challenges to be overcome or when the road is level, and less effort has to be put into trusting and waiting on God.  Whether it is during times of perfect health or in moments of pain and sickness. Whatever our moments, no matter what is happening in them are we willing to be in his will and not demand our own. 

Not only that but to be able to say in those moments with confidence that “all things work together for the good of those who love and serve the Lord.” If we can get ahold of this truth, then no matter what we face we can accept his will for our life. 

I’m not saying God wants us to be sick or hurt, that our harm is his will. The scripture that only good things come from God is true and I believe it.  However, we live in a fallen world. In this fallen world our bodies are literally dying from our first breath. He is not the cause of the suffering that we have in this life. Yet he can use all things that we experience whether it be our pain, our joys, our suffering, our successes, our challenges, and the trails we face to draw us closer to him, for our ultimate good, and for His glory.

We won’t feel great every moment in life. Life won’t be easy every day, but God is always good nevertheless. His will is always what we should desire to be in.  And yes, every step of a righteous man is ordered of the Lord.

When you face impossible moments. Moments like a terminal diagnosis, moments when you have lost your job or home, moments of betrayal by others, moments where God’s call on your life is challenging and daunting, moments when his goodness seems to be a lie, yet you know it’s not. I hope that you choose to say “let it be to me as you will, not my will but yours be done” in every moment.