Your Will be Done

We were looking over the mountain and the wind was blowing so strong it pushed us backwards on our snowboards. We were getting pelted by the wind and ice flying up the peak of the mountain. My youngest son and I were looking straight down a black diamond run with lots and lots of ice on it. I was yelling but he could barely hear me because the wind was so strong. We tried staying as low as we could, nudging forward closer and closer to the edge so we could start riding down the mountain where the trees blocked the wind. We wanted to just turn around and ride the chairlift down but we couldn’t turn back at this point. As we finally reached the edge, we were able to Send It over and push ourselves over to get down the mountain. 

My son and I looked at each other and decided we would not be riding that chair lift to the top of the mountain again today. We wanted to stay on the parts of the mountain that were a lot more comfortable. As we ended the day snowboarding I couldn’t help but reflect on my quiet time reading about the last supper and how Jesus and his disciples enjoyed a meal together and then headed out to the Mount of Olives to pray. 

As Jesus was headed to the cross, He knew it was the reason He was here on earth. He had the last 33 years to prepare for this moment to change the course of history. Jesus and His closest followers were all in the Garden of Gethsemane and Jesus asked them to pray. He knew His time had come, he even tried to explain that to his disciples but they fell asleep.

Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”

Luke 22:39-46 NIV

In that last day of Jesus’ life he had felt all the weight of the world, and his prayers were so heavy and intense he even had drops of blood drip from his forehead. When everything seemed impossible and turning back was not an option he prayed and said a very very powerful prayer.

“Not my will but yours be done” 

As a follower of Jesus I feel like turning back so many times in some many areas of my life. 

But I want to keep pressing forward to the ledge of the next mountain God has for me and I want to say not my will but God’s will for my life. 

God help me. 

Photographer: Josh Ramirez