MORNING MANNA 2-2-21
“THINE WILL BE DONE”
“Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.”- Luke 22:42
Someone said, “these words of Jesus are the most difficult and most important words that we can learn” – “not my will, but thine, be done”. I agree, for God’s will touches every area and need in our life. God’s will relates to the matter of salvation, sanctification, stewardship, service, suffering, etc. Regardless of the subject His will is what matters most. It matters because God’s will is always right, best, and safest. If His will is done that’s all that matters.
Yet we tend to resent, resist, and reject it, as though we have a better plan. What fools we are! It is no wonder that the world is in such a mess. Rather than putting our confidence in God’s revelation we conform to our reasoning as though we were wiser than God. To accept God’s will requires conviction, courage, and confidence – trust that God knows best. It is our sinful stubborn pride that prevents us from doing so.
The problem with many is that they obey God only in matters related to the things they want to do. But so called “partial obedience” is total disobedience. There is no area of our life that escapes the scrutiny of God and He expects compliance to His will in all of them. We are not at liberty to pick and choose what commands we will obey.
Considering the weakness of the flesh, this puts all of us to the test. For example — while certain acts of service can be pleasurable, suffering can be hard to bear, yet we are expected to accept His will in both cases. We have no right to receive the one and reject the other. In both cases our attitude is to be “not my will, but thine. be done. Just as His will is best in regards to salvation and service it is also best in sickness, suffering, and shortage of goods. Although we cannot yet see the benefits of such undesirable things we can and should trust that they exist. Were we as wise as God we would want exactly what he wants.
Far too often we make the mistake of saying, “Not Thy will, but my will be done”, and that never ends well. Nothing puts us more in touch with heaven that to pray as Jesus said we should – “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10). – HDS
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346
