He Asked For a Way Out

"My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." (Matthew 26:39)

I grew up thinking that asking God to change something was a sign you didn't trust Him.

Then I actually read what happened in Gethsemane.

It's the night before the cross. Jesus knows exactly what's coming. Not vaguely. In detail. And He takes three friends out to a garden full of olive trees, tells them He's so heavy He can barely stand it, and walks off alone to pray.

And what He prays is not a polished prayer. He asks His Father to take it away.

"And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground." (Luke 22:44)

That's the Son of God on His face in the dirt, asking if there's another way.

So here's what I had backwards. Asking God to change your situation is not weak faith. Jesus did it. Out loud. More than once that night.

The faith is in the second half of the sentence.

Yet not as I will, but as you will.

He asked honestly, then He surrendered completely. Both. Not one instead of the other.

Most of us pick a side. Either we beg God for what we want and go silent when the answer is no, or we skip straight to "whatever You want, Lord" without ever admitting we're scared. The first one is honesty without trust. The second one is trust without honesty.

Gethsemane is both in the same breath.

And notice what God did with that prayer. He said no.

The cup didn't pass. Jesus walked out of that garden straight into the worst night in human history, and it was the right answer. It was the answer that saved you.

So when God tells you no, or says nothing at all, it doesn't mean He didn't hear it. Gethsemane is proof that the most important prayer ever prayed got a no, and the whole world got saved because of it.

Bring Him the honest version. Say the hard thing. Then hand it over anyway.

Next week we stay in that same garden, but the story turns. Because while Jesus was praying, one of His closest friends was walking up the hill with a crowd behind him.

And he greeted Him with a kiss.

Austin
Founder, TheRisenKing