Jesus, when in the Garden of Gethsemane, prayed to His Father, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” He was praying about going to the cross. Jesus knew what He had come to this earth to do and was going to complete that work but His humanity is seen when He asks God if there was another way to accomplish His mission to have the sins of humanity paid for. The cost was great. He was about to make the ultimate sacrifice for those who were considered His enemies. (Romans 5:10) He was about to lay down His life.
God has called us, His children, to sacrifice as well. Those of us who have put our faith in Jesus Christ, are to follow His example. No, God isn’t asking us to die for the world. Jesus took care of that. We are, however, to submit to the will of God our Father as Jesus did. Yes, it will cost us something. But the reward is GREAT! Jesus tells His disciples that in order to follow Him, they must deny themselves and take up their cross daily. (Luke 9:23) To deny ourselves is hard to do, especially in a world that tells us to feed our desires. But when we deny ourselves to do the will of God, we know God has what’s best in mind. We should know. Why is it hard to just do that then? Do His will….. What are we afraid of?
We have been made to believe that the Christian walk is supposed to be a smooth journey. NOT! Jesus said that in this world we will have trouble. (John 16:33) Because we live in a world that does not know Him and is influenced by God’s enemy, the devil, we will have opposition, suffering, and battles to fight. In the midst of it all, are we willing to do the Father’s will and put ours aside? Are we willing to suffer to accomplish His plan not just for us individually but for His church? The reward far outweighs the sufferings. The Apostle Paul, who suffered much, believed that what he had endured was not worth comparing to the glory that was to come. (Romans 8:18) If the Lord endured suffering on our behalf, surely we shouldn’t complain when suffering comes our way. No servant is greater than his master.
So, as a follower of Jesus Christ, we can expect that when we do the will of the Father, we WILL suffer and face opposition. He has promised to be with us through it all. Look at what doing it our way has gotten us….not much. God’s plan and purposes are greater and sure. Let’s lay our wills down and seek His will in all things and confidently walk it out until we reach that glory we anxiously await when He comes. It’s worth it. He’s worth it.
