All around us lately we have noticed how saints who love God are experiencing difficult situations. Loss of income, loss of relationship, loss of a family member, loss of material things, loss of health, loss of joy and in general just plain “loss” and there is nothing they can do about it.
All our earthly “props” are being stripped away as our Spirit man prepares to return to Eternity, the place for which he was made.
Never has the reality sunk in to me so deeply that we belong to Him and that the day we surrendered to accept Him as Lord, we lost all our rights to question Him or to demand our way. All we hear in the quiet still voice is, “Trust me, I know how it hurts. I, too, felt your pain but there is a greater plan.”
Mark 14:35-36 He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. And He said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will."
It doesn’t fit well in our simple Cracker Jack box theology, but our Lord Jesus did not want to die on the cross. Even He, under the weight of the inevitable “loss”, asked the Father, is there not another plan? Something maybe that won’t be as painful as what I am feeling right now?
“Take this cup away from me,” He pleaded. Nobody likes pain. We were created for eternal joy and we don’t function well in pain. We will go great lengths to avoid people who bring us pain and we will cross oceans to be with those that bring us joy. Yet when it comes to life sometimes we are not given a choice. Pain remains and our hearts and our bodies begin to shrivel up under the weight of the sadness.
Everything hinges on one thing and one thing only. How quickly can we say, Nevertheless? How quickly can we surrender to His will again? How quickly can we let go of the wheel and let Him drive? How quickly can we understand that we really do not know what is best for us? How quickly can we submit to the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth? How quickly can we understand that the One who created the most beautiful rose also laced it with thorns?
The One who designed the human body could have either left the pain button off or fashioned a detour around that opportunity for hurt and pain but he did not. Now what? We have few choices. We can scream, “It’s not fair!” at the heavens. Get mad at God and throw the rest of our life away? Lock ourselves inside our emotions and end up in a mental hospital? Obsessively chase pleasure at the risk of hurting those around us? Inside, where others can’t go, something tells us these are not good choices.
Maybe, we can peek into Heaven and get an idea of what the Master Painter has on the canvas from these verses;
Mark 10:37 They said to Him, "Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory." But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"
Something about Heaven and proximity to the Lord Jesus for all Eternity is linked to drinking of the cup. Maybe the race is not over on this side. Maybe this life is just preparation for an even greater one. Maybe I can’t compare my cup to the cup others have been asked to drink. Maybe the word “fair” is not a word we can rightly define on this side of the pearly gates.
NONETHELESS,
Not my will Lord Jesus, please help me to drink this bitter cup. I know, even though I don’t understand, that it is good for me. You are my Father, and what Father wouldn’t give His life for His children?
Come, O Sovereign King and rule and reign in the affairs of men. Our hands are down and our ears listen intently for the voice of the Lover of our Souls.
Your words are my command!
Jose Bosque
As I write this it has been 3 weeks since I buried my first granddaughter Sophia 2 years old and full of life except for the Leukemia. I drink the cup with you!
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