Thy Will Be Done

As I look toward Easter, I remember Jesus’ words that night in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Let this cup pass from me, yet not my will, but Thine be done.” When we pray “the Lord’s Prayer”, it is easy to slip past “Thy will be done”, giving it little consideration.
Our world seems filled with pain, sickness, natural disaster, violence. Our friends, our family and strangers make poor choices. We all experience unfair treatment. We pray, “Take this cup away, Lord. Make her choose the right path. Drag him back from his habit.” Unlike Jesus, we demand. We plead. We say more than, “Take this cup from me.” We tell God just what needs to be done. Too often, we forget the second part of Jesus’ sentence, “…not my will, but Thine be done.” We know Jesus carried his cross to Golgotha. When he submitted to God’s will, he suffered and died. Even though we live on this side of the resurrection, we get lost on Good Friday. We want our will not God’s.
Every time we pray, “Thy will be done,” we are submitting our lives to God, the Creator, our parent who loves us, delights in us, holds us in the palm of his hand. When the darkness seems to surround us, it is easy to lose sight of God in charge, of God’s strength, of God’s power at our fingertips.
We don’t know God’s plan for us. We only know the darkness of the moment. When the fog of fear surrounds us, so we can only see one step ahead, hanging onto our faith in God feels almost impossible. We forget that Jesus didn’t want to be crucified. “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” (Mark 14: 36) Even in his misery, Jesus placed his trust in God.
A sign we saw on a plaque in a kitchen specialty store in Fredericksburg Texas said, “Faith makes all things possible, just not easy.” Something important to remember.