He took Peter and
Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and
distressed. He told them, “My soul is crushed
with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
He went on a little
farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be
taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” Matthew
26:37-39
There is a spiritual war going on. I say this understanding that this goes much
deeper than just the things we see. This
is something we must feel. I have felt
closer to God lately reaching out in prayer seeking His wisdom and guidance,
and for that, He has given me moments of clarity. The war I see is always related to what I
want versus what God wants. More times
than not, we are wanting the same things, but at times it boils down to wanting
the same thing we both cannot have; control.
Do I have control or does God?
When I am responding to an attack, am I doing so through my own lens or
a God inspired lens? When it is my own,
I immediately feel liberated, but often it is not lasting and can leave me with
a level of anxiety, tension, and maybe even anger. When I respond through God’s lens, it
requires painful work, but I later feel love, strength, and inspiration. These do not flee but instead become building
blocks for something more lasting.
So, why is there a struggle?
It’s my favorite question exemplified by Paul when he says, “I don’t
really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it.
Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this
shows that I agree that the law is good.” (Romans 7:15-16) The key to solving any issue is to be aware
what the problem is, and it is through that awareness we can solve it.
Prayerful connection to God always puts us in the best
position to see the world through His lens.
Today’s verses speak of worn and battle-weary Christ praying before He
must make the ultimate sacrifice for our sins.
I found myself feeling for Him and His condition. Those initial verses are important to note
because even Christ himself grew tired are as we often are when struggling and
fighting through our spiritual wars. He
said, “Let this cup of suffering be taken from me. Yet I want your will to be
done, not mine.” I wondered why
is He praying this prayer? After all, He
is God, and He already knows what must be done.
You see, that’s the beauty of this prayer; His selfless surrender to God. It’s underlines the very spiritual struggle
we must deal with today. We have this cup of suffering, a cross to bear, or a
surrendering to God. We do not want the
cup for we know what it encompasses. But
for us to fully embrace the grace, love, and peace that only God offers, we
must want what He wants more than what we want.
This is what perfection of Christ looks like.
God is a choice. We
may see it as a seemingly simple one, but as noted here, it Is anything but
simple. However, today’s verses are not filled
with sadness. Instead, they are to inspire
and encourage you of the goodness of God and the love He has for each and every
one of us. So instead of worrying about
the suffering, trust in Jesus Christ for He said, “If
any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your
cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23b) What ‘cup’ are you holding today? Where can you give more control to God in
your life? My prayer is that we both
acknowledge and deal with our spiritual war.
Amen.
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