Have you ever dreaded doing something? I believe everyone in the human race has dreaded doing something.
But I don't believe that any dreaded human experience will ever compare with what Jesus faced in the Gethsemane garden at the Mount Of Olives. That dreaded experience was His death on the cross for the sins of the world, at a place called Calvary.
In the garden, Jesus prays to His Father, and delivers an urgent request: "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from Me. Yet not My will, but Yours be done."(Luke 22:42) You ask, what is the cup Jesus is asking to be removed from Him? It is the cup of suffering for all the sins of man-kind. Can you imagine carrying the weight of the grief, and guilt of all the sins of the world?
I sympathize with our Lord. I would definitely want this human experience taken from me. But the next part of the prayer, displayed Jesus' willingness to submit and obey His Father. "Yet not My will, but Yours be done." (Luke 22:42c)
Two things I want us to see, as we bring our future dreaded experiences to our Heavenly Father.
First, it is important that we bring our petitions to the Father. We cannot take on the weight of our problems, and tough experiences, all by ourselves. We need God's strength to face those mountain of problems. And God wants us to ask in faith, if we can be relieved. It may be His will to do so.
But Secondly, it is also important that in faith, we yield, and submit to the will of God. In all things, we must desire that God's will be done.
If God wants us to endure this dreaded experience, He will give us the wisdom, and the strength to endure it. He will never leave us, or forsake us. (Joshua 1:5c)
Jesus took on the cup of suffering for our sins. My question for us is:
Will we be committed to take on our cup of suffering for Him? GP
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