Your will

by Tom Swallow

"Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."

Luke 22:42

Submission isn’t easy. It wasn’t for Jesus in Gethsemane, and it hasn’t been for me either.

As a student pursuing an engineering degree, I had my life mapped out. A secure job, financial stability, and the freedom to carve my own path—it all made sense. My plans were clear, logical, and set me up for success.

But then, God called me to something different. He asked me to follow Him, to serve and lead in the Church. He asked me to lay down my plans—plans I had carefully built—and trust His.

And I wrestled with this for a long time. I doubted, I argued, and I resisted. I still have questions. Why would God ask me to step away from something good? to trade away my certainty?

When Jesus is coming to the end of his life on earth, he has this moment in the Garden of Gethsemane, where he prays to God the Father in pain and sweating blood because he knows what is about to happen.

In that place there’s a moment of real honesty between the God the Father and God the Son, as Jesus asks, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me”. It’s a moment of recognition that submitting to the plan wasn’t easy for Jesus even though he was God, knew the plan and knew he’d come for this in the first place.

If Jesus, God himself finds submitting to God’s plan hard, its okay that I found it hard, and its okay that you might find it hard.

I think God asked us to follow him to teach us to trust him. He asked me to trust him more than my plans. To submit my will to him and follow his will for my life.

Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane reminds me that true submission isn’t about convenience—it’s about trust. It’s about surrendering our will, even when we don’t fully understand, because we believe that God's plans are greater than ours.

Some days, I still struggle. I still wonder what life would look like if I had chosen my own way. But every time I submit to God’s calling, I experience His faithfulness in ways I never could have imagined.

Submission isn’t weakness—it’s the greatest act of trust and faith.

Lord,

show me today areas in my life  where I can submit to your will more. 

Amen.