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Among the olive trees, Jesus was praying. Many times he had prayed in “desolate places” (Luke 5:16). Yet never had he known desolation like this. In this familiar garden of prayer, Jesus looked deeply into the Father’s Cup he was about to drink and was terrified. Everything in his human flesh wanted to flee the impending physical torture of crucifixion. And his Holy Spirit groaned with ineffable dread at the far greater impending spiritual torture of being forsaken by his Father.
Such was his distress over this “baptism” (Luke 12:50), the very thing he had come into the world to accomplish (John 12:27), that Jesus cried out, “Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will” (Mark 14:36).
Yet not what I will, but what you will. Nine words. Nine unfathomable words.
God [the Son], having longed, and even pled, to be delivered from God’s will, expressed in these nine simple words a humble faith in and submission to God’s will that was more beautiful than all the glory in the created heavens and earth combined. … Never has another human felt such an intense desire to be spared the will of God. And never has any human exercised such humble, obedient faith in the Father’s will. “And being made perfect”—having exercised perfectly obedient trust in his Father in all possible dimensions—“he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him” (Hebrews 5:9). …
No one understands better than God how difficult it can be for a human to embrace the will of God. And no human has suffered more in embracing the will of God the Father than God the Son. When Jesus calls us to follow him, whatever the cost, he is not calling us to do something he is either unwilling to do or has never done himself.
That is why we look to Jesus as the “author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). He is our great high priest who understands, far better than we do, what it’s like to willingly and faithfully endure the sometimes excruciating, momentarily painful will of God for the sake of the eternal joy set before us (Hebrews 4:15; 12:2). And now he always lives to intercede for us so that we will make it through the pain to the eternal joy (Hebrews 7:25). …
If we find that, in body and soul, we wish God’s will for us could be done in a way different from what God’s will appears to be, we may wholeheartedly pray with Jesus, “Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me.” But only if we will also pray with Jesus these nine gloriously humble words, “Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
Because God’s will for us, however painful now, will result in joy inexpressible and full of glory and the salvation of our souls (1 Peter 1:8).—Jon Bloom1
Surrendering our will
I think we often overlook the significance of what happened in Gethsemane, but as it relates to our redemption, nothing could be more important. If Calvary is the door to salvation, Gethsemane was the hinge. It was here in this garden where the eternal future of humanity hung in the balance. It was here that our fate was decided. All of history was depending on this moment.
Where Adam failed in the Garden of Eden, Jesus prevailed in the Garden of Gethsemane. And the key to Christ’s victory here was the secret of His whole life, embodied in those seven immortal words, “Not my will, but thine, be done.”
The Roman soldiers seized Jesus and crucified Him, but they could not take His life, for He had already laid it down in Gethsemane. “No one takes My life from Me,” was Jesus’s confession, “but I lay it down of Myself.” You cannot kill a man who is already dead! It is here that we find the next great secret for discovering God’s will for our lives—the secret of the surrendered will.
We must begin by recognising something so simple yet so significant: there may be a difference between what we want and what God wants. With this awareness we must constantly make sure our will is surrendered to His. Many times, people embark on the journey to discover God’s will having already made up their minds about what they think God wants them to do. And often what they are actually seeking is divine validation of what they desire.
If you truly want God’s will for your life, you cannot simply pray “Your will be done.” You must include “Not my will.”—Daniel Kolenda2
His ways are better
Have you ever felt the agony that comes when you know God is calling you to do something you don’t want to do? The reality is most of the Bible calls us to stuff we don’t want to do, but we know God’s ways are better, so we trust him. If you’ve felt this, you are not alone. There are many people in the Bible that felt the tension of trusting God. Chief among them is Jesus.
Before going to the cross to die for the sins of the world (including yours and mine), Jesus went to one of his frequent prayer spots in the Garden of Gethsemane, across from the brook of Kidron. It was during this prayer session where we read that Jesus prayed, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). But let us not miss something significant. Jesus was in agony over what was coming and what he had to do…
Matthew 26:37 says he was “sorrowful and troubled.” Mark 14:33 says Jesus was “greatly distressed and troubled.” And Luke records that an angel appeared to comfort Jesus; and he was in agony, so much so that his sweat was dripping like blood. (However, some manuscripts do not contain Luke 22:43–44.) The point is that Jesus was very uncomfortable, and he even asked God if there was any other way.
Nevertheless, Jesus was committed to doing the will of the Father, no matter what. … And the will of the Father was that Jesus would die under the crushing weight of the world’s sin so God and man could be reconciled.
At times we feel agony and anguish over doing the will of the Father. We worry and fret. We balk. But in the end, we must say, “Not my will, but the will of God.” …
You may be struggling in the tension of trusting that Jesus’ ways are better than the world’s ways… Don’t be in agony, but if you are, trust God. His ways are better.—Bryan Catherman3
Feeling “inspired” to do God’s will
We all have certain responsibilities and duties that the Lord expects us to fulfill, whether we feel inspired to do so or not. Even prayer—our communion with the Lord—is something the Lord expects us to do and that we know we need to do. Witnessing and being a representative of the Lord’s love to others is another important duty and responsibility.
We don’t always feel inspired and enthusiastic to witness or minister to others, or to take time with the Lord, or even to pray. But we can’t wait until we feel inspired about doing whatever it is we’re supposed to do. We just can’t go by our feelings or live by our feelings—God’s will has to be our guide.
Feeling inspired is a motivation that comes and goes. The motivation that we need to hang on to are the facts, not the feelings—the fact that God’s Word tells us to do certain things that will help us in our spiritual walk with the Lord or that will help others. If anything is going to truly and consistently motivate us, the facts in God’s Word that spell out His will for us will. When you know something is God’s will for you, whether you feel inspired about it or not, if you just obey Him and do it by faith, as unto the Lord, He will bless you for it.
If the great men of God in the Bible had only obeyed God’s will when they felt inspired, they would have never accomplished anything for Him. Moses certainly didn’t feel like presenting his case to Pharaoh and leading the Jewish people out of Egypt. Nor did the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, or Daniel feel like doing the difficult and dangerous things that God commanded them to do. In fact, most of them argued with the Lord that He had the wrong guy and that He should get someone else to do the job!
We know that Jesus didn’t feel inspired about dying on the cross for the sins of the world, and even pleaded with His Father that “If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me.” But the bottom line was His declaration “Nevertheless, not My will, but Thine be done.”
When we know the Lord wants us to do something, whether we particularly feel like it or not, we should just go ahead and do it by faith, trusting in Him. He suffered and died to redeem us; thus we are indebted to Him. We are His servants, whom He purchased with His blood.
“For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18–19).—Maria Fontaine
Published on Anchor April 2024. Read by Jerry Paladino. Music by Michael Fogarty.
