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Yield

Mark 14:36| “’Abba, Father,’ he said, ‘everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.’”

In the military, it is not the privates in the infantry who decide where they are going to go, what they are going to do, or the maneuvers that they are going to use. Instead, it is the generals who have all of the information regarding the troops and the overall picture of what is being accomplished who make the decisions for those in the infantry. Oftentimes in life we wonder why God isn’t giving us everything that we always ask for, and we must realize that we’re not the people who have all the information–God is. God knows how what we are asking for will affect us and those around us.

Mark dives into the midst of Jesus’ struggle as he is in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus knew that his time had come where he would suffer and die. We see into the secret prayer life of Jesus in the middle of the most difficult situation he had to face in his life on earth. Jesus very well could have, in that moment, decided that he was not going to die–that it wasn’t his will and therefore wasn’t God’s will. But instead, Jesus yielded to God’s plans and desires. Jesus knew that God had something greater in mind than just what Jesus saw in that moment. God was the general who saw all that would happen because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, and in that moment Jesus was the infantry – the man on the ground. So, Jesus in that moment decided it wasn’t what he wanted to do that he would do, but what God wanted.

There are times in all of our lives where we get focused on what we want and desire and it’s easy to forget that God is orchestrating things that are more amazing than we could ever imagine. When we want what we want, it’s difficult to say yes to God instead of yes to ourselves. However, we will find that God’s “thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways (his) ways…As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are (his) ways higher than your ways and (his) thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).

Reflect:

• Have there been times in your life where you wanted your way but yielded to God, and his way was more amazing than you ever would have imagined?
• Are there places in your life where you resist yielding to God’s way instead of yours? Take some time to pray through those areas and ask him for his strength to do what he’s calling you to do.