“He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, ‘O My Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me, except I drink it, Thy will be done.’” (Matthew 26:42 KJV)

Thy Will Be Done

Jesus says this while teaching the disciples to pray (“Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven” in Matthew 6:10); later He prayed this same thought for Himself in the Garden of Gethsemane in today’s Scripture. He says He came to do the will of “My Father” and “the Father” 12 more times in Scripture, including, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 6:38).

As He sweated drops of blood in the Garden, praying for any other way but the Cross, there was never a thought that God didn’t know what He was doing, or that He wouldn’t do the right thing. There was a desire that things might go differently, but when they weren’t going to, there was a surrendering to God’s will and plan. 

This shows us some things. Jesus knew God could change it if He so desired. That gives me hope. Jesus wanted it to be different badly enough to ask three times for the cup to be taken from Him. It’s okay to keep asking. It didn’t change things in this scenario, but there are several times in Scripture where things did change through prayer, including sparing Ninevah when the people showed true repentance, and God “relented for the disaster He had said He would bring upon them” (Jonah 3:10).

Let’s be honest… sometimes it’s really hard to say (and mean),“Thy will be done,” when you are desperate for a situation to change, for healing to happen, for restoration, for financial chaos to stop, for… you fill in the blank.

But at the end of the day, when all is said and done—though it may feel like a knife in my chest—I must say and mean, “Thy will be done.” I must put my faith in the Living God who sees the end of things from the beginning. I must trust He has my loved ones, and my own, best interests at heart. He is allowing and ordaining things to ultimately draw us all closer to Him.

“Lord, thank You for living out the example of submitting to the Father’s will, as You willingly went to the Cross so we could be reconciled to the Father. Help us to surrender our will for His in both the easy and the hard things, trusting He knows best. Amen.”