Before the sun rises, and after my sweet husband has gone for the day, my coffee is my company. In the darkness, I pray for everyone and everything that comes to mind, while I sip the bitter brew, wrapping my hands around my steaming cup. Before my Littles awaken, can we talk about a very different cup from this porcelain one I hold?
In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus said, in Mark 14:36 (NIV), "Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." These words struck me this Easter weekend as never before, as scripture often unfolds newly, with age of self and change of season.
Jesus spoke words based on his oneness with the Father and sinless heart of truth, "Everything is possible for you." But God answered him in silence, or with the quiet no, that parents often whisper in the ear of their precious child, when they know better. To His Father, who bases all His answers on Love, Jesus responded with obedience. Jesus believed in Truth, offered his request, agreed with His Father's will, then he obeyed...in that order.
God can do all things, but sometimes his answer is no, even to Jesus. Can I live this way, with unfailing belief in the impossibility, obeying the answer, no matter what it is, trusting God's will and not mine? Yes. Yes! At the darkest moment of history, when the cup of sin (mine and all of mankind's), deepest suffering, excruciating sorrow and most hideous evil, was willingly accepted by our Savior, then today I can hold my cup, filled with even the hardest things I can imagine, and trust the outcome of ultimate good, because God is good.
Jesus' act of obedience is the very reason we can live in freedom from our own sin, forgiven through his sacrifice, blameless before our Holy God. In my little life, the closer I get to God, the bigger He gets! The outcome of God's 'no' to Jesus, was the 'yes' to salvation for me and you and all of us who surrender our lives to the Lover of our souls, Jesus Christ.
God bless your day, I pray that you will have strength to walk in faith, trusting God, no matter what your cup may hold with Jesus guiding you.
Yesterday, six-year-old Zion said, "With Jesus, there's a party in my heart!" Let that joy inspire us!
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