GOD'S WILL OR YOUR WILL?
TEXT:
"And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done." (Luke chapter 22 verses 41 to 42, King James Version).
Almost every human desires to have things go his own way in life. This position is borne out of the human dislike for submission as a principle of life. To very many people, submission is akin to surrender! It means losing, and no one wants to be a loser. To surrender or to submit evokes the unsavory or unpalatable images of admitting defeat, or yielding to a stronger opponent; and no one wants to do that.
But submission is the heart of the Christian faith (see James chapter 4 verse 7 and 1st Peter chapter 5 verse 5). Submitting to God for instance, is the natural response to His amazing love and mercy. We submit ourselves to him, not out of fear or duty, but in love, "because he first loved us." (see 1st John chapter 4 verse 19).
I have come to discover that not everyone who's a Christian truly desires God's will to be done in his life. Apart from signifying the loss of the control over one's life to Another, many Christians abhor the idea because of the fear of what the will of God may ultimately turn out to be for them. Yet, someone has said that "one of the sweetest lessons that we can learn in the school of Christ is the surrender of our wills to God, letting Him plan for us and rule our lives." Surrendering to God will is the best thing that can happen to anyone!
This is so because our God is One that knows and declares the end of time and things from the beginning. Hear Him in Isaiah chapter 46 verses 9 to 10:
"... I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, ..."
As humans, we are grossly deficient in knowing what lies ahead of us. We don't have the ability to know what will happen to us in the very next minute of our existence; but God does! So therefore, God is in the better, if not in the best position to choose for us in life. Besides, as our Creator and the One that sent us here, He has the blueprint of our itinerary here on earth. He definitely has a will for us. Our prosperity, joy, peace, fulfillment in life, etc, hangs on doing His will. This is why we submit or surrender to God's will for our lives.
In the Scripture reading for today, in the matter of His going to the Cross, Jesus had a will of His own, but He chose to surrender it to that of His Father. Doing so, He found God standing with Him and glorifying Him in the end. So was Abraham. At the time God called him out of the land of Ur of the Chaldees to go to a place he had never known or been to, he had his own will, but he chose to submit all to God's will for him. Likewise, God blessed him and today, Abraham is not only the father of faith, but also of many nations.
No doubt, everyone has his own will in life, but choosing to submit to God's will in life is best for us, not only from the angle of Him being our loving Father that knows the best for His children, but also considering that as Creator, He has His will for us, the fulfillment of which we will ultimately in the day of judgment be called to give account of.
PRAYER:
Father, may your will be done in my life always, in Jesus name.