Luke 22:42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
John 18:11 Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”
Jesus did not want to drink the cup of suffering. Nobody wants to suffer. Jesus was willing to undergo intense pain beyond anything anybody ever has or ever will go through because of His love for the Father and His desire to bring Him honor by redeeming all chosen to believe.
In North America there is a success syndrome that exists in Christianity. Like our culture, we admire and follow those we see as effective. We’ve made celebrities just like the rest of the world.
When I read Jesus’ words and Dr. Charles Parkhurst’s response to them I am compelled to believe this is not what our culture would define as great. I hope God will grow my faith beyond my cultural influence and enable to be like Jesus – a faithful servant in suffering. Read these words and be overwhelmed with a vision of what truly great faith is. This is in response to John 18.11.
This was a greater thing to say and do than to calm the seas or raise the dead. Prophets and apostles could work wondrous miracles, but they could not always do and suffer the will of God. To do and suffer God's will is still the highest form of faith, the most sublime Christian achievement. To have the bright aspirations of a young life forever blasted; to bear a daily burden never congenial and to see no relief; to be pinched by poverty when you only desire a competency for the good and comfort of loved ones; to be fettered by some incurable physical disability; to be stripped bare of loved ones until you stand alone to meet the shocks of life--to be able to say in such a school of discipline, "The cup which my Father has given me, shall I not drink it?'--this is faith at its highest and spiritual success at the crowning point. Great faith is exhibited not so much in ability to do as to suffer. --Dr. Charles Parkhurst
2 comments:
That's pretty awesome. Thanks for sharing this blessing.
When Jesus told Peter to put his sword away, He knew full well that His battle was not against flesh and blood. In the natural, He had the sword put away, but in the spiritual He picked up a mighty weapon of warfare – humility and obedience to God – and what a forceful blow He gave the enemy of our souls! This same defeated enemy still walks about like a roaring lion – don’t fight him with carnal weapons, things that our culture admires, instead love your enemies, consider others better than yourself, endure when suffering comes, be humble, believe in God, chose fasting over feasting, pray instead of worrying, give when you have already given, speak the truth in love and praise Him no matter what your circumstances...
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