Obeying Anyway

Obeying Anyway

[Jesus prayed,] “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will, not mine.” Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood. Luke 22:42-44

As Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, his sweat fell like drops of blood. Only Luke’s Gospel recounts this. But Luke was a physician, so he understood the physical agony this represented and recorded it in the Gospel. Modern-day doctors describe this sweating-of-blood phenomenon as a physical reaction to extreme psychological stress. Jesus faced an agonizing choice that night. The suffering that he was to endure was not a result of his own wrongdoing, for he was without sin. He could have called ten thousand angels to whisk him away, yet he gave his life rather than give in to his own anguish.

Sometimes believers suffer even when they obey, for we share in Jesus’ suffering as well as in his joy. Sometimes the work before us is difficult or painful, but there is a greater purpose behind our difficulties, and we have the opportunity to share in God’s plan when we do his will in spite of how we feel.

Prayers:
JESUS, I sometimes must be reminded that we share in your suffering just as we share in your joy. The road you choose for me will not always be easy. Help me to remember that to love you is to obey you. Thank you for following your Father’s wishes that night in Gethsemane. Help me to choose the Father’s will in my life as well.

Quotes:
Obedience to Jesus Christ is essential, but not compulsory; he never insists on being Master. We feel that if only he would insist, we should obey him. But our Lord never enforces his “thou shalts” and “thou shalt nots”; he never takes means to force us to do what he says.
Oswald Chambers (1874–1917)

The One Year Bible Readings for today are: Judges 4:1–5:31; Luke 22:35-53; Psalm 94:1-23 and Proverbs 14:3-4.