If not my will, then whose?

Jesus touching words in the Garden of Gethsemane, “not my will, but Thine, be done,” indicated his humble willingness to trust that God’s plan was the only possibility.  (see Luke chapter 22)  Yes, that plan included a horrific martyrdom.  But Jesus overcame that awful event and showed his followers that life is eternal and good outweighs and even conquers evil.  His willingness to do that continues to bless all mankind.

It’s not likely that any decision you or I make will ever have that kind of consequence.  But sometimes setting aside our own will in the face of what feels like horrific circumstances, can be pretty darn tough.  Humbly trusting God’s guidance and obeying His direction, being confident that divine Love’s way is always best, sometimes feels like just guesswork.  How do we know that everything will be okay if we don’t control the outcome?  Well, if you’re like me, you can think of a number of times when “doing it my way” was a real disaster!

Okay, so there’s plenty of evidence to prove that we don’t have it all figured out.  But there’s also plenty of evidence that God does.  Can’t you look back through your life and find moments where divine Mind showed you the answer and you believed it – and everything worked out in ways you couldn’t have imagined?  Or where Spirit’s sweet angelic nudges shifted you from one pathway to another and either saved you or delighted you?

Knowing that, and always trusting that however, seem to be two different things.  But they don’t have to be.  What if you prayed that same prayer of Jesus?  What if, moment by moment, you indicated your own willingness to give up “the way it should be” for “how it is, according to God”?  What if you just made a pact with yourself that you wanted to be humbly obedient – and that you also wanted to be regularly reminded of that promise – and then followed through?  There might still be some bumps in the road, but I’m pretty sure there’d be a lot fewer of them, and your progress down that path a lot more satisfying.

Let’s do it together.  Let’s help each other remember that God really does have a plan and it’s design is Love itself.  Let’s agree that we really do trust our Heavenly Father to rightly  guide and direct us.  And then let’s go forward as if we believe it.  I’m in.  Are you?

Melissa Hayden is a Christian Science practitioner in Salem, OR. You can find more information and additional articles at this link.  If you like what you’re reading, click the “add me” button.