Perfect in weakness
“Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”” (Matthew 26:36-39)
In honor of Easter, let’s talk about Jesus.
I can perfectly picture this scene in Gethsemane. Jesus, laying prostrate on the ground, begging and pleading for the Lord to find another way, for Him to not have to bear this assignment.
I can picture it because I’ve been there before.
But Jesus ends with saying that regardless of His wants, He wants God’s will to be done.
As I was driving along to a doctor’s appointment this past week, a song that I love popped up on my playlist that reminded me of this scene with Jesus, the song “Even If” by Mercy Me.
I know You're able and I know You can
Save through the fire with Your mighty hand
But even if You don't
My hope is You alone
Jesus knew that God had the ability to take the cup from Him, but He also knew that God’s will was the most important thing in that moment.
I think the hardest struggle when walking along a path of pain or sorrow or illness is that we know from many, many stories in the Bible and perhaps even miracles we’ve witnessed ourselves, that God is supremely able to take away that pain or sorrow or illness. I’m sure if you’ve ever been there, you’ve probably prayed for that very thing.
The hardest thing to reconcile is when He doesn’t.
But what Jesus knew is that when He doesn’t answer those prayers, not only is there a greater purpose behind it but it is also not the end of our hope.
Jesus knew that while the road ahead was going to be extremely difficult, God had a bigger purpose AND that was not the end of the story. Jesus died in His perfection to bring us salvation but He did not stay dead!
When we find ourselves on that hard road, not only can we take comfort in that God is going to use it to His greater purpose, but we also have the greatest hope of all- that we too will not die and stay dead. We have the best part of our story yet to come, living out eternity in perfection with God.