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Luke 22:41-42 – And [Jesus] was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. (KJV)
Have you ever composed and sent off what should have been a perfect document, only to find that a serious error either in spelling or word placement had taken place? Very frustrating! You have been there, too?
I was preparing a PresbyCan devotional and had read through my rough draft too many times not to have it perfect.
On entering it into the online Submissions Form, everything was going very well. Fortunately, we can edit the submission as many times as needed to make sure that it is perfect. It looked perfect, so I pressed the "Submit" button. Done!
A few seconds later, I received an email from PresbyCan telling me that my submission had been received and that I could secure a copy, which I did. Done!
Then, horror of horrors, I read the title: "Not Thy Will, But Mine"! I looked at my copy to make sure that I had read it correctly. What to do? I couldn't call the editor, Robin, at 1:30 a.m. as I was tired, and it was late! I looked at it again, and it had changed from a 12pt font to a 96pt font — it was humongous! I panicked.
With over fifty years in the ministry, how could I have written such a blasphemous title? I had checked the document; how could I have overlooked this serious error? Or was it an error? Perhaps it was a revelation that I actually felt that way about my God and my relationship with Him. I am sure that I heard Satan snicker somewhere in the background.
1 John 3:8 – He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. (KJV)
I was reading this verse when the phone rang, and I almost jumped out of my skin. I answered it, and it was Robin at 1:30 in the morning. "Hello, Stephen. Are you sure that you want to use that title for your submission that I just received?"
Then, I woke up! It was a nightmare! However, I suspect that I'm not alone in realizing that "not Thy will, but mine" describes my life far too often. May God grant all of us the willingness to recognize that as the Lord of our lives, Jesus deserves our unconditional obedience, for His will is perfect and He is always good! That's the only way to change "not Thy will, but mine" into "not my will, but Thine".
Prayer: Father in heaven, grant us the grace to listen for Your will and the courage to obey it. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
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daughter: "Update May 12, 2025: Please keep praying for my daughter. She needs the Lord in her life*** April..." 
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Such somber truths. Stephen. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Stephen, well said. Blessings to you and your family.
Yes, Stephen, we’ve all been there. Thank you for sharing. God bless.
Besides being a good message, Stephen, this devotional of yours made me smile!
Yes, the devil tries to get us every way he can.
Blessings.
Love this devotion, not only is it something I needed to hear, and you said it so well but it was cute thinking about the late night call.
Thank you for sharing this encouraging and slightly humorous devotional with us. I’ve had this same thing happen to emails I’ve written. I blame glitches in the software. Again thanks for sharing. Blessings.
Thank you, Stephen, for your devotional today. A very good reminder to us to be attentive to check our writings carefully and to be ever mindful that our Lord is in control and ever deserving of our constant thankfulness and praise.
Blessings for this very special and clarifying writing.
Good morning, Stephen,
Truth be told I read it wrong as I started the devotional. I very much enjoyed your devotional, and it was very effective in getting me to think about my own behaviour. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on something that I do struggle with. Blessings.
Oh my goodness – you had me hooked – especially since ‘transposition’ does happen quite frequently to me. Also – horror of horrors, I have used that phrase when praying often AND have inadvertently spoke the words the wrong way around. I think you’re right about our difficulties with the absolute obedience concept – but also with the asking for, waiting for and HEARING (recognizing) God’s responses. For me, I begin to doubt or worry about what I THINK He is saying/doing. What I attribute it to is simply another example of the ongoing working out of my salvation with fear and trembling.
When I opened the devotional and read the title, I had to read it a couple times to make sure I was reading it right, thinking that after all these years, I had misread what this line was supposed to say. I’m glad you went on to explain that what I was reading, you wrote in error, but I confess that I too sometimes think about it in this way, and it describes my life way too often. So it was a good reminder to me, to always listen to His will, and to all always obey it.
Sorry you had a nightmare over the submission, but in the end, it gave you good material for a devotional, and a reminder that many of us needed to hear!
Stephen,
“a good devotion”
My husband who is a retired Presbyterian minister said his nightmare was missing his notes when he went to preach.
My occasional repeated nightmare was having to go to the bathroom and every door I opened was a closet.
Now those are to be deciphered!
You certainly got your devotion point covered when I read your title. It’s a constant reminder that we must put our faith in our Lord which is a faithful trust that we constantly try our best always to use His will.
(Ontario)
I sure laughed when I read your writing! In my mind, your title was correct. I had switched the words without realizing it. Great lesson for me. Read with intention. Even the title. Thanks for a great start to my day.
(Manitoba)
Hello Stephen.
I missed reading this till now but I am so thankful that I did not miss it! We all make mistakes that are easy to overlook when proof reading. You’ve given us a good challenge and reminder to get things in the right order.
Thanks so much.
Thank you, Stephen, for pointing us to the correct attitude towards God. Writer’s nightmares, indeed! And I wasn’t surprised to read that Robin had called at 1:30 a.m., even if it was a dream.