Not My Will
11 Days Until Easter
Matthew 26:36–39
“Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.””
In this passage, we are brought into one of the most intimate and weighty moments in the life of Jesus. The garden of Gethsemane is not a place of public teaching or visible miracles. It is a place of prayer, surrender, and deep anguish.
Jesus brings His disciples with Him, but then He steps a little farther away. This is something He must face in a deeply personal way. Scripture tells us that He began to be sorrowful and troubled. The weight of what is ahead is pressing in. The cross is no longer distant. It is right in front of Him.
And Jesus does something incredibly important.
He prays.
He falls on His face before the Father and says that if it is possible, let this cup pass from Him. That statement reveals the depth of His humanity. The suffering He is about to endure is real. The weight of sin, the separation, the cost, it is all before Him.
But He does not stop there.
Not my will, but Yours.
That is surrender.
And when we read this moment, it is easy to think of surrender as something reserved for massive, life-defining decisions. We picture these Gethsemane moments as rare, overwhelming turning points where everything hangs in the balance. And while those moments do exist, that is not the full picture of how surrender actually works in the Christian life.
Most of the time, surrender is much smaller.
It shows up in the daily moments where our desires do not naturally align with what God has called us to. The decision to respond with patience instead of frustration. The choice to step into obedience instead of comfort. The willingness to align our thoughts, actions, and words with Scripture when it would be easier not to.
On any given day, there are countless opportunities to say not my will, but Yours.
The reality is that genuine sanctification is not built on a few large moments of surrender. It is formed through the continual pattern of small acts of obedience. Those repeated decisions shape the direction of our lives over time. The daily denial of self and the daily choice to follow Christ is where transformation truly takes place.
At the same time, those daily steps do not eliminate the reality of larger moments of surrender. There may be significant decisions in front of you right now. Moments where God is asking you to trust Him in a way that feels weighty or costly. The daily practice of surrender is what prepares your heart for those moments. The small yes builds the strength for the bigger yes.
Gethsemane was a defining moment, but it was not an isolated one.
It was the culmination of a life that was already fully surrendered to the Father.
As we move closer to Easter, this passage reminds us that surrender is not just something we step into once. It is something we live out every day. Not my will, but Yours, again and again.
Prayer
Lord, teach me what it means to surrender to You in both the small and significant moments of life. Help me not overlook the daily opportunities for obedience, and give me the courage to say yes when larger steps of faith are in front of me. In Jesus’ name, amen.