My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will (Matt. 26:39).
Read: Matthew 26:36-46
After weeks of serious illness, tests, and hospitalization, the doctors still were baffled at what was wrong with me. Their medical diagnoses had gone from curable sickness to possible chronic disease to tests for ominous terminal illnesses.
Terminal illness? I didn’t want to die. I wanted to live and nurture my grandchildren. “Lord, please heal me,” I prayed and asked others to pray for my healing too. But what if it wasn’t God’s plan to heal me? I struggled to submit to His will, especially if it meant dying.
Jesus, too, struggled with the thought of death. But His death had far greater implications. As a human being, He faced a painful physical death. As God, however, He would carry the sins of the entire world and be separated from His heavenly Father. Jesus prayed, asking His Father to remove the cup of death from Him, if possible. Yet He was willing to put God’s will above His own and face death.
Although God chose to answer many prayers and healed me, He allowed His own Son to die on the cross for our sins. Just as God had a purpose for Jesus’ life and death, He has a purpose for each of ours. No matter what God’s plan is, may we respond in submission as Jesus did: “Yet not as I will, but as you will” (v. 39).
Aren’t you glad that Jesus didn’t insist on His own way but willingly went to the cross? His death and resurrection have brought us eternal life.
Respond: Sovereign God, You know what is best, and You always work for good in my life. Help me submit to Your will as Jesus did.
About Lydia Harris
Lydia E. Harris is happily married to Milt, her sweetheart for 48 years. She has two married children, five grandkids, and is the author of a Bible study, "Preparing My Heart for Grandparenting" (AMG Publishers, 2010 release). She's also a tea enthusiast and writes the column "A Cup of Tea with Lydia."
