Devotion – Not My Will, But Yours (365/161)
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Devotion is tested not when God's will is easy, but when it conflicts with our own.
Jesus and Jonah present two very different responses to God's call. One surrendered completely; the other obeyed reluctantly.
Jesus lived in perfect submission to the Father. He declared, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work" (John 4:34). Every decision, every word, and every step was shaped by His desire to please the Father (John 8:29). Even in Gethsemane, as He faced the agony of the cross, Jesus prayed, "Not as I will, but as You will" (Matthew 26:39). His obedience cost Him everything, yet He willingly embraced the Father's purpose.
Jonah, however, when called by God to go to Nineveh, ran in the opposite direction, toward Tarshish (Jonah 1:1-3). After Nineveh repented, he became angry because God showed mercy to his enemies (Jonah 4:1-3). Jonah obeyed outwardly, but his heart resisted God's purposes. God patiently pursues reluctant hearts like Jonah's, yet He is worthy of the wholehearted devotion perfectly displayed in Jesus.
God’s will is not merely to be obeyed, it is to be trusted.
Jesus, through His obedience unto death and His victorious resurrection, gives us new hearts that can delight in the Father's will.
Pause and Ponder
Is there an area of God's will that I am resisting or delaying in obedience?
Do I obey God only when His plans align with my preferences?
What would it look like today to pray, "Not my will, but Yours be done"?
A life devoted to God continually says, "Your will be done," even when the path is difficult or unexpected.
Father, give me the heart of Christ, that I may trust You and surrender fully to Your purposes. Amen.
Extended Reading: Jonah 1,4
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