Not What I Want…

"He went a little farther and fell to the ground, with His face touching the earth, and prayed, 'Father, if it is possible, take this cup away from me. Yet not what I want, but what you want.'" - Matthew 26:39

There are really hard things people go through. Some people have to suffer through tremendous losses and pain and nothing can ever be of any consolation. There's always this misconception about God that if He were really a good God bad things wouldn't happen to good people, or if you pray to God everything is supposed to be smooth for you, but that's not the case. The most painful, scary moment of Jesus' life is one we're so used to talking about that maybe we forget how terrified He must have been. Picture that dark, chilly night in the garden of Gethsemane as Jesus, completely terrified, worried, anxious, so stressed He was sweating drops of blood, fell to the ground begging the Father to not let Him go through the pain, the suffering, the humiliation. Jesus didn't want to go through it. Jesus the man was scared. This is the beauty of God… He cares so much for us that He chose to become man to know what it feels like in the flesh and in the heart to suffer pain and betrayal. He didn't want to experience hurt and He told God that as He cried and prayed the night before He was put to death, but despite all of that, He remained faithful to the end. Despite knowing what He was going to go through, His prayer was always, "yet not what I want but what you want."
This is where the key lies to finding strength in painful situations, to always trust in the will of God no matter what you see before you. When you suffer and are tempted to get angry with God or become despondent, you have to look at the cross and remember that even Jesus Himself accepted the Father's will, and if it weren't for that, you wouldn't have the strength from Heaven to persevere. Because He knew suffering in the flesh, Jesus is closest to those who suffer and go to Him in trust. Hold on to His promises, know that Jesus is by your side, and pray for the will of the Father to always be done.

Today's Prayer:
Father, when we suffer teach us to always look to the cross. Your biggest showing of love for us was in the mystery of the death of Your Son. When we're scared to suffer, remind us of Jesus' wounds. When we get angry with You, remind us of the drops of blood Jesus sweated. When we want to go against Your will, remind us that Jesus obeyed You to death on the cross. In Jesus' Name we pray, amen.