His Plan > My Pain

THIS WEEK’S FOCUSED SCRIPTURE

Matthew 26:36-39 (NLT)- 36 Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” 37 He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. 38 He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” 39 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.”‍

THOUGHTS FROM JERRY‍

Picture this with me for a moment. Jesus goes with his three best friends to this beautiful garden. He asks them to wait and keep watch for Him. He lets His friends know that He really needs to pray and spend some time with Father God. Jesus lets them know that there is something going on in His soul that is heavy. Jesus tells them that He feels like His soul is being crushed (we’ve all been there a time or two).

What Jesus says next I believe most have said in some way, shape, or form. In verse 39 Jesus says, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me.” We will all, at some point in our lives, get to a place where we ask God to let us skip the pain and suffering in our life. God, save me from the brokenness from having to experience this divorce. God, save me from the heartache from this person dying. God, save me from the memories of what they did to me. God, save me from being broke. There are things we will to go through in this life that are difficult for us because they require us to rely on God and not ourselves. The thing about relying and trusting God is, it is usually not comfortable. Jesus was betrayed, spit on, slapped, punched, kicked, whipped, beaten, mocked, humiliated, abandoned, and nailed to a cross after being stripped naked where He ultimately died. And He did it all for us.

Jesus did not want to go through all that pain, but He said, “I want Your will to be done, not mine.” God’s will was for Jesus to die and be the sacrifice for the sins of humanity. I believe the thing that helped Jesus follow through with God’s will for life, is His trust in the Father’s plan. You see Jesus did not stay dead but rose from the dead, and because of His resurrection you and I can have an eternal relationship with God.

I believe there are some things that are going to be resurrected from your life if you don’t quit on God’s plan for your life. Jesus prayed to remind Himself of the faithfulness of God and His plan for His life. So as you pray, remember that your pain is temporary because our God is faithful to bring you through this. I encourage you to keep following God’s plan for your life, even through the pain. A life verse of mine that I believe will encourage you to do this is Galatians 6:9 (NLT): “So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.”