Gethsemane: The Place Of Surrender

Luke 22:41-44(NKJV):

⁴¹ And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed,

⁴² saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”

⁴³ Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.

⁴⁴ And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.^[e]

Oh, the place of Gethsemane! The torturing expectance and the choice to make: my will or the will of the Father? I thank Jesus every day that He chose to submit to the will of the Father and committed to suffer for each one of us, so we could have hope and salvation. It came to us by the expense of Jesus praying earnestly in the garden of Gethsemane and struggling to fulfill the will of the Father.

The reason why this passage became so close to me and so endear is because I spend so much time in my garden of “Gethsemane” praying to give me strength to submit to the will of the Father rather than choosing my own will. My current plea with the Lord is to give me strength to preserve me through the counseling that I start with my husband tonight.

My husband and I went to some counselors before, but nothing worked out for us because neither one of us was willing to yield. I was so bitter and infuriated with my husband after discovering all the lies and betrayal by him that I chose to retaliate. Back then, I didn`t go to the “Garden of Gethsemane” to wrestle things out with the Lord, but I chose to submit to my own will and he did the same.

Gethsemane represents our surrender to the Lord: not my will, but my Father`s will be done. Please note, this is a voluntary choice. Nobody forced Jesus into this mission, but He willingly came down to this earth to die for each one of us and to suffer all the way to the death, and the death on the cross. I spend so much time in “my garden” in this agony pleading with the Lord to pass my cup if at all possible, but for some reason my God wants me to be the one yielding. It requires me to bow lower.

Could I do that? Not in my own strength, and not in my own ability. It starts with the choice however. I had to reason with the Lord that when He allows something to happen, He is faithful to give strength to complete the task. What`s more, if I choose to trust the Lord to protect me (and my reputation), then it wouldn`t matter how foolish or humiliated I may look in the eyes of the others. That`s a big pill to swallow, and I haven`t had a throat for that in the past. I`ve always chose to stand by my name and attempt to prove myself right. I choose to do no more of that. I choose God to be my shield and my protection.

It starts with the choice, and it starts with the desire to please the Lord.

¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise (Psalm 51:17 NKJV).

Oh, Lord, please help me surrender my will to You, so I could bring a sacrifice to Your feet that You will not despise: a broken spirit and a contrite heart.

I have made this decision in the past, and God always came through for me. What`s different for me this time then? It`s called: pain, pride, and price. This time, it requires me to admit things I`ve done wrong, and it requires me to accept the fact that I may have to endure more pain because my husband`s attitude haven`t changed. What`s more, it requires a choice of willingness on my part to pay this price to glorify the Lord. Voluntary mission.

Not my will, Lord, but Yours be done. It starts with the choice to surrender to God, and with the desire to trust He would guard, direct, and provide. I could not possibly put into words the pain that`s in my heart, but I lay it by the feet of Jesus knowing that since He went through the worst possible humiliation, pain, and price He paid, He is capable to encourage me and to give me strength. My task tonight consist of the painful thing: going to the counseling (from my previous experience I expect to be misunderstood there).

When surrendering our will to the Father, we should ask one questions: Do we trust the Lord being capable to do the impossible? My confession is: my faith is stretching thin and I have a hard time believing certain promises of God. Does that change Who God really is? No, because He continues to be the Almighty and the All-powerful God.

The next important step after surrender and trusting the Lord is a fervent earnest prayer. Jesus earnestly prayed to the point that the drops of sweat turned into blood. This is another struggle that I have right now: earnestly praying for my circumstances. I`m fighting both battles: surrendering to the will of the Father and struggling to continue praying.

When there is no praying support, like in Jesus case was, God was faithful to send Him the angels to minister to Him. In my case, I do have a praying support, and God is faithful to sustain me through the scriptures:

 ⁵ For His anger is but for a moment,
His favor is for life;
Weeping may endure for a night,
But joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5).

¹¹ For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. ¹² Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. (Jeremiah 29:11-12 NKJV).

The part that I didn`t notice before in this verse in Jeremiah is that “You” actually plural, and not a singular. In other words, the promise is for my marriage that God showed me: “You” (my husband and I) will have a future and a hope; we will call upon the Lord; we will go and pray to Him (which is something that`s out of reach right now).

In order to see this promise come to life, I have to surrender to the will of the Father and choose to yield even by the cost of my reputation. God will fight for me where it`s necessary, and He will protect me if only I will humble myself and will apply to do what He asks of me. My weeping comes at night, but the joy from the Lord is promised to follow in the morning. I know I will experience the joy of His strength and blessing when I will complete His will because I`ve seen that happen in the past.

We all have our own struggles, and Lord knows them. It is the conscious choice followed by the action that would get us blessed and rewarded. What`s more, it would give opportunity to the Lord to move to do the impossible. When we know His will and we choose to ignore it, we limit His work by our unbelief. I have seen the both sides, and I`d rather look “weak” in the eyes of the world and will humble myself even lower, rather than choose to step down (step away) from the will of the Lord. Any step down, is a step away from the Lord.

I choose to bring the sacrifice of the broken spirit and a contrite heart regardless of the pain and a struggle I may experience now. My battle is not over yet; this is only the beginning because today is only the first session of the counseling that we both committed to do until we see victory. I am sure that each session would send me straight to “Gethsemane”, but such is the price for those who choose to honor the Lord.

Another reason why I am so thankful to God for not omitting this part of the scripture in the gospels: is showing the humanity of Jesus in His own struggles. Jesus asked for a praying support, He struggled Himself and asked for a cup to be passed from Him. If Jesus asked for support, and He wasn`t ashamed of that, neither am I ashamed to ask for the praying support. I struggle because my name have been marred, my reputation destroyed by my own husband (flesh of my flesh and bone of my bones); how much worse than this can it be? This is why I come to Jesus and ask for help. He is so faithful, and I will never stop praising Him for that.

Thank you for all your prayers; they matter a great deal. I pray that God would strengthen those of us who grow weary and would fill us with the peace surpassing all understanding in response to our surrender to His will. In Jesus Name, Amen.