Not My Will: Embracing the Intimate, Yielded Relationship Father Longs For

Even after failure and shame, the Father still invites you into the same close, yielded walk He shared with Jesus, starting today with one simple step.

Photo by Shreyash Amriwala on Unsplash

The same intimate, yielded relationship Jesus had with the Father is available to us today. As believers we long to know and do the Father’s will, yet we often wonder exactly what that looks like, especially when guilt and failure make us feel unusable. The good news? The Father still shows up and invites us into that same close, surrendered walk with Him.

“The words I say to you I do not speak on my own initiative, but the Father abiding in me does His works.” “... and the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me.” John 14:10,24

Jesus’ teaching on his oneness with God condemns any notion that he spoke for himself or did only the things he desired to do. His relationship with the Father is such that he only speaks or does what the Father, who abides in him, desires. They are truly one, the Son completely yielded to the Father’s heart that lives in him. The beautiful news is that this same oneness is exactly what the Father invites us into.

The miracle of it is this: what seems unique to the Son is actually the pattern the Father longs to repeat in every one of His children.

When we are fully surrendered and yielded to God, then he can express His heart into our world through us, and the works we do are not our own but his. This is why Jesus can say in verse twelve that we will do greater works than he did. Our works are not ours, they are God’s. We are simply the wrench, the level, or the oil that he applies in a moment.

Even in Adam and Eve’s failure, God pursued the same close fellowship He designed for them and still designs for us. This seems impossible to us. How could He use someone like me? Why would He still want me after what I’ve done? And then we pause to remember that the day after they fell, God showed up. He came to walk with them even though He knew. He came to clothe them, to administer truth, and to send them on their way. They had a life to live and he wanted them to live it with Him. He had things planned for them, a purpose for going on, a reason to start over.

He is still inviting us into that same yielded walk with him today.

Here is a simple way to begin: Set aside one hour this morning or evening. Turn off the noise and soak in silence, communing with God. Speak your surrender out loud: “Father, not my will but Yours be done in me today.” Then listen. Obey the first gentle nudge you sense. As you practice this yielded listening and simple obedience, you will begin to experience the Father expressing His heart through your life.

Will you join me in that step today? Open your arms and yield to Him, and feel the oil of His Presence begin to flow.

Shalom