shani4jc

“saying, ‘Father, if it is Your will, take this cup from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”  Luke 22:42

Some of the hardest words we can every pray are the same ones Jesus prayed in the garden in preparation for His crucifixion.  “Nevertheless not my will, but Yours, be done,” seem to somehow always be uttered in extreme agony and are barely able to be choked out by the person saying them.  The beauty found in these difficult words starts with “nevertheless”.  Because Jesus had an attitude of “nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done”, God’s greatest demonstration of His love for us was carried out just as He planned.  Because Jesus had an attitude of “nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done”, we have gained a hope we never would’ve had before.  Because Jesus succumbed to the will of the Father above His own will, we have the opportunity to receive Him as our Savior.  Because Jesus obeyed His Father at any cost, we have the opportunity to be adopted in to the family of God.  God took Jesus’ “nevertheless” and turned it in to the greatest gift the world has ever received.  Maybe you are struggling right now with your very own time of asking God to remove whatever cup you are bearing.  Maybe you are facing the biggest challenge of your life.  Maybe you are up against the most difficult times of suffering imaginable.  If you are, remember that Jesus’ nevertheless changed the world forever.  What could God do if you had your own nevertheless moment?  What if you were to say, “nevertheless, not my will, but Yours, be done”?  What if you surrendered it all before God and let Him carry out His perfect plan?  Could it change your world?  Could it change your family’s world?  Could it change your workplace?  Could it change the world?  You never know what God will do when you surrender everything to Him with an attitude of “nevertheless not my will, but Yours, be done.”