Not My Will Part II

The more I think about my previous post, the more and more frustrated I become. I am so proud of my beautiful friend who has said to the Lord in this situation, “Not my will, but Yours be done,” but what frustrates me is that I should not be amazed as I watch my Christian friends lay down their lives because they want the Lord’s will for their life more than their own will. Because this should be commonplace. This should be the norm.

 As Christians, this is what we sign up for—death to self, taking up our cross and following in the footsteps of Jesus, the One who laid down His life to do the will of His Father in Heaven. This is life in the Way. When we say “Yes,” to Jesus, we are proclaiming Him our Lord, which means He is our Boss. We are not our own masters. He has bought us at a price. He shed His blood as payment, purchasing us for God, which means we no longer belong to ourselves. But yet, we live as though we do. We make decisions based on what we want, on what feels good to us, on what we believe will make us happy, and that often leads to negative, if not disastrous, ends.

Of course, no one wants to deny themselves; no one enjoys doing this. It’s uncomfortable, it’s painful, it doesn’t feel good, it’s contrary to our nature. But this is what we are called to. This is the narrow gate through which we are called. This is basic Christianity.

And this is the challenge, for myself and for the rest of the Kingdom—will we truly embrace the Christian life and do what we have been both commanded and invited to do? Yes, commanded and invited—commanded because it is what He wants and what He has told us to do, and invited because He knows that living according to the Word of the Lord is a powerful blessing for us; it is the best way to live. So will we embrace it? We know it’s hard. That’s why it’s the narrow gate that so few walk through. But will we rise to the occasion and tackle the challenge? Can we stop before we make decisions, before we enter into anything, and ask Him what He wants, what He desires, what His best is for our lives and then be obedient to His response? If the answer is no, well, maybe a bit of re-thinking is in order. If the answer is yes, blessings lie just on the other side...