12-22-11
Lose Your Will
“He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” – Jesus (Matthew 26:39)
Jesus did not desire to be separated from the Father, yet surrendered His will, for the will of the Father. Ultimately Jesus Christ looked beyond the simple fulfillment of His desires, His utterly perfect desires, and gave His life over to the Father, that God’s will would be done.
It would seem so often that we take our will, our desires, our wants and then simply add God to them. I firmly believe Christ’s call to “Lose our life” involves every aspect of our desires and our wants. The goal of life is not necessarily the fulfillment of our desires, instead it is the fulfillment of Gods desires, for they are indeed infinitely more rewarding, yet at the same time and quite often, more difficult and less pleasurable. Jesus Christ is not the only one who was called to give up his will for the sake of the gospel, but myself as well. Personally, for most of my Christian life, I attempted to incorporate the gospel into pre-made plans instead of allowing the gospel to dictate my plans. In doing so, I found myself living a frustrated Christian-ish existence, one partially surrendered but mostly self orientated, an incompatible mirage of holiness masking my old self while clinging desperately to what I want. I do not remember the date or time, but I know the moment where in desperation I let go of my will, and surprisingly did not find the emptiness which I feared, instead the meaning for which I had searched. Lose your will.
Good one. I like it. I too struggle to put God first in my life instead of asking Him to bless ‘my plans’ he can be become ‘the plan’ for my life. I think we should preface all plans with “Lord Willing”. Submission is a struggle.
12-22-11 » 18:58 »
Lord Willing!! Yes!! We freak out a lot of the time, but once we’ve jumped and landed, we realize simply how GOOD it is that WE DID! Our attitudes are shaped in our God-relationship and Christian walk… and making this a cycle among the Church through edification, accountability, etc. is very important… We’re like sheep, but we love our Shepherd. Very encouraged Matt. Hope you are too, haha
12-23-11 » 03:51 »
LOVE this line, “I attempted to incorporate the gospel into pre-made plans instead of allowing the gospel to dictate my plans.” Couldn’t have said it better myself. It’s amazing how much of my life I have spent trying to make the gospel fit when really the Good News is the news that never changes.
12-23-11 » 04:48 »
@Dad- I think that’s a great way to put it, that God is ‘our plan’ for life.
@Sara – I am encouraged, thanks for your thoughts!
@Allison- It’s so tough to fully surrender to the gospel. I so often tend to see the gospel as essential only for salvation, instead of essential for my Christian walk and day to day decisions.
12-23-11 » 05:16 »
Surrendering our will to the Lord’s will is INDEED a challenge, and it’s not a one time thing, either, we have to continually choose to be willing to do this.
12-23-11 » 17:03 »
C. S. Lewis said in “The Great Divorce”-
In the end there are 2 kinds of people, those who, in the end, say to God, “Thy will be done” and those to whom, in the end, God must say, “THY will be done.
Even for those of us who already believe, surrendering our wills to His is a constant struggle.
12-23-11 » 18:38 »