“Father,
if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done.” Luke 22.42
Jesus knew
what He had to go through, but He didn’t relish the prospect. He cried out to
the Father to be spared the ordeal. I find this to be extremely encouraging.
Here we have the greatest human being of all time, God Himself, but He is fearful
of what lies before Him. There is hope for me!
Jesus doesn’t
want to endure what is to come, but He realises that the decision is not His to
make. His whole life on earth has been devoted to the Father’s service and
obedience to His will. And He is not going to change that in the threat of
death.
He cries out,
and His cry is directed fairly and squarely to the Father to whom He is fully
obedient.
His first
appeal is for the Father to remove the likelihood of suffering and death. But it
is short lived for, immediately, He follows it with the release of “yet, not my will
but yours be done.”
This also speaks
to me in profound terms. I don’t know if I am to face persecution, even death,
for my faith. Indeed, I have no idea what trials might lie ahead. But I am
encouraged by this exposure to Jesus’ experience and the revelation it brings
to me.
If He got
concerned, then it’s OK for me to experience apprehension, and even fear. And,
as He trusted the Father implicitly, so can I. My heavenly Father is for me,
and He will accompany me through whatever trials and testings may come. Let me
be mindful of this, at all times.
Holy God,
I want to trust You, as Jesus did. Help me to
do this, in Jesus’ name I ask. Amen.
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