Not My Will… (March 29, 2023)
“Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”
Before His unjustified arrest and brutal crucifixion, Jesus—knowing the extreme suffering that He was about to endure for mankind’s salvation—retreated to the Mount of Olives to take His anguish to His Father in heaven through prayer. While His disciples slumbered nearby in the Garden of Gethsemane, our LORD, showing His humanity, sweat great drops of blood as He pleaded with the Father to make another way if possible. In absolute obedience, however, Christ surrendered His will to that of the heavenly Father and willingly completed the mission for which the Son of God had been sent to earth—to enter humanity as the sinless suffering servant required for the redemption of our sins.
“But rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.” (1 Peter 4:13)
Many of us have a very low threshold for physical and emotional pain, but occasional suffering is a reality we all must face in a world under demonic influence. As Christians living in a wicked culture that is turning away from God and rejecting the absolute truth of His Word, we are bound to face growing ridicule and persecution. We have been relatively fortunate in America, but eventually, we may be subjected to threats of imprisonment and death because of our faith like many fellow believers around the world. We must do God’s will regardless of the temporal affliction that it may bring. As suffering saints, we can be joyful in tribulation, knowing that, being partakers of Christ’s sufferings, we will ultimately share in the glory of our risen LORD!
“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18)
