Scripture:

Mark 14:33-36
33 And He took with Him Peter and James and John, and began to be very distressed and troubled.
34 And He said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch." 
35 And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by.
36 And He was saying, "Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will."
NASU


Thoughts:

It's encouraging to see that even the Son of God, in His humanity, wrestled with the trial He would face.  He didn't stay there (verse 36b), but He did wrestle.  This is encouraging because it means to wrestle is not by itself sin, because Jesus never sinned.  To be overwhelmed (verse 33) is not sin for the same reason.

So often when we find ourselves in these places we feel condemnation; that we ought to have more faith and not struggle.  This is spiritual attack, not conviction.  How wonderful it is for us to be able to see in the life of our Lord, that these times of wrestling need not be times of stumbling.  He was "touched by our infirmities," yet remained without sin.

It's also encouraging because it helps to make sense out of our hardships.  We often pray as Jesus did (verse 36), but are then horrified to get the same answer He did:  it was not the Father's will to remove the cup (hardship).  Jesus did not avert His trial despite His perfect pleas to the Father.  His were not stained with doubting of God's ability or desire to rescue Him, and yet they were rejected.  So we can see it is not the worthiness of the pleas that is the issue, but the Father's will.  Sometimes we will suffer.


Prayer:

Father, help me to have faith like Jesus displays here.  To walk through the trials You allow, trusting in Your wisdom:  You know what is best and will bring it about. 

I don't want trials, but when I face them, I want the right perspective.  I want faith and freedom from condemnation over my weakness.

Amen