Unfortunately, many have mistakenly equated the weaning of the soul with the elimination of the will. They have erroneously taught that the weaned soul has arrived at a station in life where it no longer has a will of its own. However, to be properly understood, the weaning of the soul must be seen as the subjugation of the will, not the elimination of the will.

During His earthly sojourn, our Lord voluntarily submitted His will to the will of His Father (Matthew 26:39). He voluntarily laid down His life upon the cross of Calvary for the sin of the world (John 10:18). Yet, His willingness to do so in submission to the will of His Father was arrived at during a night of agonizing prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. In fact, His agony was so great that He literally sweated blood (Luke 22:44). 

According to Hebrews 5:7-9, Christ “learned obedience” on that agonizing night in the Garden of Gethsemane. By submitting His will to the will of His Father He became the “perfect” example of obedience for us to follow. In addition, “He became the author of eternal salvation” for everyone who submits their will to His will in obedience to Him, just as He submitted his will to the Father’s will in obedience to the Father.

Notice, right up to the end of His earthly life our Lord had a distinct will of His own. Although His will was always subjugated to the will of His Father, even on the night before His crucifixion, it was never eliminated. Christ was never without a will of His own. 

Like our Lord, we will never find ourselves without a will of our own in this world. There will be no elimination of our will. Neither will we ever find ourselves spiritually cruising through this world on automatic pilot. Whenever our will differs from God’s will, we will need to subdue and submit our will to God’s. Furthermore, every time we need to do so will prove to be a struggle. Sometimes, the struggle may be so great that we too will feel like sweating blood.

As with the weaning of a child, so with the weaning of the soul, peace and contentment only come after great struggle. It is not until the will is finally subdued that the soul is weaned, calmed and quieted. Peace comes after surrender, which is always the case in any conflict. One side must surrender to the other if the struggle is to end. It is our surrender to God that ends our struggle with God and finally brings peace to our soul.

The calmed and weaned soul is at peace because of its surrender to God.