NOT MINE, BUT YOURS

LUKE 22:42

“Father if it is Your will, then take this cup away from Me. Nevertheless, not My will but Yours be done.”

Can you pray that prayer honestly and earnestly?

Can you, like a colt, submit to the will of the Father?

Jesus wasn’t asking for anything out of the ordinary like asking to be a multi-billionaire. He was only asking that he would escape suffering but the Father’s will included a far bigger purpose. One that included all of humanity. All the nations of the earth.

Jesus wasn’t asking for anything out of the ordinary like asking to be a multi-billionaire. He was only asking that he would escape suffering

That’s the thing, although Jesus’s request would have been good for him and his small sphere of influence, the Father’s will included a larger sphere. That’s it! When author Rick Warren says in the first line of his book The Purpose Driven Life, “It’s not about you” when it comes to your purpose, this is what he is referring to. See, your purpose on earth is not only to live a peaceful life and take care of your spouse and kids and maybe other members of your external family. No. Your purpose connects to more people than you see. That’s why we need the Father’s direction. That’s why it pays to submit to Him. To say “Lord here are my plans, but since you are a much better planner and strategist, I want your plan to be enacted. “ But trust me, His plans may not always look like the best from the onset but the end result will be exceedingly abundantly above all you could imagine

Your purpose connects to more people than you see. That’s why we need the Father’s direction. That’s why it pays to submit to Him.

I know at this moment you may be thinking: well I’ve gone through some pretty terrible things in life. Was that also God’s will? Then how come I’m not seeing the abundance? But then you’ve missed the point. It isn’t that every suffering that happens in your life is part of God’s will because God just wants us to suffer. No. God does good things like feeding the five thousand and healing people.

Sometimes, we realize when we go through certain sufferings, we never consulted God about His will and trusted our own desires and walked ourselves into the suffering. That isn’t God’s will, but Romans 8:28 says “He will work all things for the good…” So even if we don’t submit to God and cause our own pain, He’s there when we call to redeem us.

So how then do we know is this suffering God ordained or I chose it? I think we all know the answer. Was God in it from the beginning or are you only involving Him when things are going bad? When the relationship is going south? When the job is becoming a soul sucker? Like Jesus, let’s learn to walk with God always, so that we aren’t experiencing meaningless sufferings.