IF ITS THE LORD'S WILL
Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done. (Luke 22:42)
As a small child I enjoyed reading fairy tales. I could just picture all of the pleasures and good times that would happen in an endless span of life. As time passed, however, I began to realize that things would not always go my way in real life. In fairy tales, the author can write the story any way he or she wants. And I am sure that if any of us had a choice, we would like to write our own story of life. I doubt very seriously whether any of us would include any suffering, pain, or tragedy in our life story. Were it "OUR WILL," life would always be trouble free.
As Christians, we learn that our will, is not always God's will.
In the passage above, Jesus realized that He was about to have an enormous confrontation with the forces of evil. He knew that a time of great trial and tribulation was forth coming. His prayer at this moment was for Himself. Many have given their explanations why Jesus asked that this cup be passed. The cup represented the death and all the surrounding circumstances that accompanied it. Whatever the reason, we see that it was not God's will that the cup be taken away from Jesus. His mature follow up statement was, nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.
At some point in our lives, all of us have wanted something to be different, and asked God to change the course of circumstances for us. However it appeared that our prayers were falling on deaf ears. We know God is able to answer our prayers the way we want Him to. Why doesn't he do that? Well God is Sovereign and He owes us no explanation for why He does what He does. However let me suggest a few reasons that may explain why we don't always get our will done.
1. God has a "PLAN" for mankind that "WILL" be carried out. Our wills must fall within His overall plan.
2. Because God is omniscient, He knows how our choices will affect us long term. He also knows how our choices will affect others. Sometimes what we think is good for us, may be harmful to someone else.
3. He knows that some choices that we make to satisfy ourselves in the short run, may be very harmful to us in the long run. God keeps us from making mistakes that we will regret later.
The solution for us is to "TRUST GOD'S JUDGMENT." Sure, I still ask God to grant my will, but I have learned to feel confident in His will. Like Jesus, I feel compelled to say in my prayers to God, "NEVERTHELESS, NOT MY WILL, BUT YOURS, BE DONE."
