Journal Luke 22:39-71 (all references are from the ESV; changes in punctuation are mine)
Scripture: “…Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” Luke 22:42
Observation: Sometimes it is right to look at the circumstance. Other times it is the people and their conduct that is to be seen. In this case and single verse, perhaps it is the principle of how to relate to God…
Analysis: What is the difference in submitting to the Will of God and not?
The first thing that comes to mind is being rebellious or submissive. Ok, that’s clever. Pretty simple analysis. So, Jesus, at the Garden, is saying, “I know what is coming. I know that it will be painful and hurtful on so many levels. Dad, I would really like to not go through this…
Be it as it may, I will do what you want me to do…Not what I want to do, but I will lay my own plans and rationale down and submit everything I am into your Hands.”
Confession: I struggle with this. It feels like so much fatalism, going with the water streams and tides, leaving the results to chance, going limp. My rationale presents, “What did God give me a brain for if not to use it? Why shouldn’t I think and make my own decisions about this situation? Why shouldn’t I decide for myself?”
I think there is a difference between that “limp” response to God’s Will and the purposeful submission. One has zero principle behind it and the other has the Word of God to stand upon.
One Faith has that “blind belief” stigma upon it—no power. The other Faith is built upon the Word of God—His commands, precepts, principles, instructions, etc.—full of power, because that power is living and active and sharp; more powerful than any weapon ever devised. It is the Spirit of God.
I don’t have this all figured out. Sometimes I get it right and am guided by the Holy Spirit into doing, not what I wanted to do, but doing what is right to do in the fear of God. When I feel like I have taken over, I sense it; something is off and lopsided. It is a sensation that I have to develop and cultivate and sometimes it looks like I am procrastinating. Sometimes I am…but I am learning to go where Faith in sensing the Will of God leads me.
On a more applicable basis, this relates to the previous posting about being a servant. Being a servant gets in the way of what I want to do, where I want to go, how I want to conduct myself, etc. Being a servant is the practical application of “I don’t want to (insert task here), but I want to perform Your Will, O God. Yours, not mine.”
Prayer: Father, you told Elijah that your speech is not found in earthquakes or in the thunder and lighting, but in the still, small, voice—that whisper in my ear and soul.
Help me quiet my soul every day, so my ear hears you and my eye sees the movement of your hands, that I may follow You, not in limp fatalism, but in courageous Faith.
AMEN
Rick Sutton