Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
Luk 22:43
And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
Luk 22:44
And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
Agony- a struggle for victory. Jesus struggled to overcome the situation at hand. His flesh did not want to sacrifice His life. His flesh did not want to be beaten and mocked. But his spirit knew this was what must come to pass, so He states not my will, but thine. He was praying for something to come to pass that the flesh did not desire to occur. He gave himself as a sacrifice for us, as undeserving as we are. Notice though, after He prayed not my will, but thine, God sent an angel to strengthen him! But the trial did not end there. Jesus was still in agony or struggling for victory. So much that He sweat blood!
So as we journey through our personal trials, we must pray not for what we want to see happen but for God's will in our life. Then He will send strength our way, but don't be fooled, He may not take that trial away. For these trials we must see them to the end. He is strengthening you to overcome your fleshly desire for it to end. He wants us to endure until His will is accomplished. When we turn our desires over to God as a sacrifice, He sends strength. When we offer to God what our hearts desire, He sends us strength. Abraham had to go to the point that he would offer his most treasured thing in all the world, Isaac, his son. And look what God did. God provided. He did not provide another route though in the beginning, did He? He did not allow Abraham to just get to the mountain and then turn him back assuring Abraham of his faithfulness. No, he took him to the very brink of his trial, within seconds of Abraham fulfilling the trial with his own hand, God provided the solution. God provided the sacrifice for Abraham.
Some things in life we must sacrifice but God will not leave you void. If you sacrifice happiness God will provide joy. If you must sacrifice love, God will provide an intimate relationship with Him. Whatever, God has requested you to sacrifice, He has something much better in store for you. He won't leave you emptyhanded. He may even return to you the very thing you offered up to Him as your sacrifice, as He returned Isaac back to Abraham.
Job 1:21
And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
Job 42:8
...in that ye have not spoken of me [the thing which is] right, like my servant Job.
Job 42:12
...So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning:
...So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning:
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Job offered praise to God and in doing so lost everything he had, God returned to him more at the end than in the beginning before his trial.
God does provide us with strength, but we must show our faithfulness and our willingness to do His will. When we sacrifice, God will provide. Some trials can be ended earlier than others. But for those trials which must be seen through, until something comes to pass, we must obtain strength from the Lord in order to see it through.
So hang on, and pray, as hard as it may be, "Not my will but thine, be done"
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