Thoughts and lessons can truly come at anytime when God is ready to reveal them to you: while kicked back in the dentists chair I was thinking if only I could have my own choice about how this is gonna go, I’d be outta here. Those simple and ridiculous thoughts sent me straight to thinking about Jesus and God. Yep, my mind chases random squirrels a lot of the time, but God usually teaches me. I began to think about Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, how He went to pray because He knew what would soon be unfolding for Him. He kindly asked the disciples to pray with Him, as we know their Will was not about praying. Their true heart’s desire apparently was to fall asleep their under a tree. I say that not so lightly, but because those moments when I feel an overwhelming need to pray even though I am tired and it is very late. I stay awake and pray. I think the disciples weren’t meant to go and pray with Jesus. Jesus needed to enter those prayers on His own, bare His entire heart to the Father. Sometimes we hold back when others are around. As I thought over the prayers of Jesus, that He was so concerned about the events that were about to unfold, He cried out for Himself. He knew this would not be easy. He understood far greater than we realize that this would be an agonizing physical pain not to mention the spiritual agony that He would endure. A spiritual agony that we’ve not experienced as He was rejected by His own people, the chief priests, elders and scribes of the synagogue, the synagogue of God, God who is His Father! Yet these men completely rejected Him to the point of being the ones who had Him arrested, falsely accused Him, paid for false witnesses, spit on Him, slapped Him, pulled His beard, set in motion His trial and judgement by the Sanhedrin counsel. These men drove the mob until they would only be satisfied with His crucifixion. Jesus was crying out for His own Will to be done for only a single moment. His flesh cried out because this was going to hurt so badly and He knew He would survive every strike of the whip, every strike of the stakes, every strike of the thorns. His human side understood just how awful this would be. And yet, His love then cried out and said not My Will but Yours be done. “saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” Luke 22:42 KJV

Jesus Himself had a single moment of not wanting the Father’s Will to be done in His life but that singular moment passed quickly because He honestly, deeply loved all of humanity. He didn’t fear what was coming, He didn’t worry about it, He didn’t have anxiety about it. He merely knew the agony of the coming events that were set to take place would be extreme in every way a person can imagine. His love overshadowed that coming agony and He requested for the Father’s Will to be done.

As I thought on this I quickly realized that we often do this same thing only we don’t always allow the Father’s Will be done. We request for our Will to be done. We’ll manipulate things so that our Will will be done. We’ll talk to God creating reasons why our way would be better, creating excuses for ourselves why we shouldn’t follow God but follow our own devices. We don’t absolutely trust God and His perfect Will for our lives. We need to follow Jesus’ example, pray through the thoughts of our own Will being done as we “talk” it out with God and resolve the issue in knowing and believing that God’s Will is perfect. No matter what God is leading us to do, no matter what path He would have us take, no matter what God opens up to us; we need to follow Him. He doesn’t call you into a ministry without you being able to bare that ministry. He doesn’t call you to hold a church office without knowing you are the right person for that position. He doesn’t call you to walk a path without knowing you can handle the pain or agony that could come with it. He knows all things and He sustains us through all things. We are the ones who think we can’t, who think we aren’t able, capable or strong enough. We are the ones who think we are not worthy to walk the path. We need to follow the Will of God and not our own. We need to realize that it is not us, but God; for we can’t do anything without Him. If Jesus had followed His own Will then He wouldn’t have been crucified, He wouldn’t have been the Sacrificial Lamb, He wouldn’t have completed the plan of salvation for all of mankind. Where would we be? This makes me wonder what are we keeping from happening when we do not follow the Will of God. When we do not go where He leads, when we do not speak or witness when He guides us to someone, when we do not stand and testify, sing, share our light with others. Whose blessings are we stealing? Whose lives are we not sowing into? Whose seeds are we not watering? Who are we not reaching when we don’t go and preach the truth of God? Who are we effecting when we are disobedient to the Will of God?

Lord God, Please forgive me!! Please forgive me for lacking the faith to trust in You and Your Will for my life. Please forgive me for stealing someone else’s blessing, for stealing that moment of sowing into Your harvest, for stealing someone else’s living water, and from stealing Your harvest. I want to be in Your Will. I want to be found completely faithful to You. I want to be found completely worn out for the glory of Your kingdom. Lord forgive me and then lead me.. I will follow YOU!