And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39 ESV)

The moment in Jesus’ life on earth that brought us our greatest victory, and Him great agony, could not make Him submit to His own will as He continued to seek the will of God—the perfect example for us in every decision we make and for every opportunity we pursue.

One of our biggest challenges as humans are not to follow our own will, but the will of God for us. We often do things with the hope of getting recognition for what we have done. We are more concerned about what people would think and say about our efforts than whether it was inside God’s plan for us. We want to be recognized for our good works, we want to be applauded by people, but there is a limit on the kind of recognition we receive from them. People applaud us, but in order to stay recognized and rewarded, we need to keep performing and once we stop, we lose our rewarding status in people’s mind until the next time we do something great.

Our moment of recognition is great, but short-lived and often leave us exhausted after a while. There is a better way of which we have a perfect example through Jesus and how He lived His life. He performed great miracles, but He never did so to get recognized or rewarded, but to be a blessing to those who received the miracle. He did greater things than anyone else, but it was never to put the emphasis on Him, but to show God’s love for His children. He was able to perform miracles and do great things that are even remembered today because He was acting inside God’s will.

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.” (John 4:34 ESV)

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. (John 5:19-20 ESV)

We read in the book of John that Jesus only did what His Father asked or told Him to do. He did not act out of His own will as He knew there is a greater purpose and blessing in doing what God ordained for Him. We even see at times where Jesus healed the sick, but before He could get recognition He disappeared into the crowd so that the emphasis could not fall on Him as a human being (John 5:13). He knew that for as long as He follows God’s will, He will be rewarded by God in His time and it should not be determined by people.

It is often easier to follow God’s will when things are going well and we have no reason to doubt God or to fear what might be ahead of us. But when the mountains rise in front of us and we struggle to see the light, we doubt God’s purpose and tend to follow our own minds. Jesus again came and showed us what to do, no matter how difficult our circumstances may look. He was facing the worst kind of death for something He did not even do. He had to die for our sins and his flesh was weak but He stayed true to God’s will. Even though He was weak, He prayed and asked God to not let His will be done, but that God’s will be done. He suffered a great trial but the reward God gave Him to this day cannot be compared to any reward by human beings.

It is not always easy to choose God’s will. It will often mean you must do something that will not lift you up among people and it might even bring opposition, but trust in God, He knows what He is doing. Every step we take inside God’s will has a bigger purpose and nothing goes to waste, but we can only do it for as long as we are seeking Jesus and not our own blessings.

We cannot walk inside God’s will through our own efforts. We need His Holy Spirit to guide us. When we spend time in the Bible, our purpose should be to meet Jesus and the Holy Spirit will reveal Him to us. When we look for Jesus in the Word, we see what we are supposed to do. Jesus never expects us to do something for which He did not show us the way. You might think because the Bible has been written so many years ago it does not apply to our lives today, but when you take the time to study Jesus’ life and all the truths He gave us through His Word, you will be amazed at how He has provided us with guidance for every situation we might be facing today. Whether it is great success, despair, difficult decisions, temptations or just dealing with family matters or sickness, He has giving us His way through the Bible.

“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me. If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. (John 5:30-32 ESV)

The next time you have to make a decision, do not base it on whether people will give you the recognition you think you deserve, but let God’s will be your determining factor. Choose to trust in Him, no matter how little sense it makes to you, but let obedience to His will for your life triumph over your own motives.