In Suffering - Jesus

[Jesus] went on a little farther and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by. “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

Mark 14:35-36

How do you typically respond when you face difficult circumstances? What do you do when your marriage is in trouble or you’re suffering serious physical difficulties? How do you grieve the loss of a loved one?

A man facing all of the above had a difficult time reconciling the idea of a loving God with everything that was happening to him. “I didn’t sign up for this!” he said in exasperation.

If you’re honest, you would probably admit that you would prefer a life without suffering and that you would do anything you could to avoid it. However, as Augustine once said, “God had one Son on earth without sin, but never one without suffering.”

Jesus faced suffering that no human being had ever experienced. He had before him a terrible death on a cross and the prospect of becoming sin so that we could inherit God’s righteousness.

Jesus knew that all those things were coming, and he begged his Father to take away the cup from which he was about to drink. But even as Jesus prayed for relief, he remained completely and single-mindedly submitted to his Father’s will.

Though he suffered anguish that we can’t imagine, at the moment of truth, he was willing to go through with the appointment God had made for him. “I want your will to be done, not mine,” he prayed.

Jesus maintained his attitude of humble submission that night because he had spent his entire life on earth yielding himself daily to his Father’s will.

Nothing tests your submission to God’s will and plans like adversity. You will pass that test when you maintain an attitude of continual submission to God, even when times are easy and seem good.