Here is the revelation shaping my life today- Jesus prays the prayer I pray in times of suffering because he gets me, he’s been me. The question is can I pray the prayer he concludes with in my seasons of suffering?
Matthew 26:39 TPT
[39] Then Jesus walked a short distance away, and overcome with grief, he threw himself facedown on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if there is any way you can deliver me from this suffering, please take it from me. Yet what I want is not important, for I only desire to fulfil your plan for me.”
Observation
Jesus knew overcoming grief. God suffers with me, for he knows suffering. He does not walk alongside in my suffering, he walks as one who knows suffering. In his humanity, God experiences my humanity so that he can be present to me. Not only does Jesus bring revelation of God in a form we can comprehend, but he also becomes one with humanity in understanding and experience. St Francis makes the comment – “the cross was Jesus’ voluntary acceptance of understanding suffering as an act of total solidarity with the pain of the world.”
We often blame God for suffering, despite the fact he never authors suffering of any kind. We label him as ‘in control’ and determine that means he is the author, or enabler, or the one who at least allows our suffering. But God is not in control, he is in charge, and there is a big difference. The one in charge does not always get her way, and so it is with God. Control does not remove freedom of choice from individuals who make decisions that bring suffering. Ever done that to yourself or others? Did God make you do it? Maybe if we didn’t blame God we would be able to call upon him for his presence to journey with us in these times. Now I know you say “but he is able to intervene,” and yes that is true. So why does God sometimes and sometimes not intervene? The answer here is simply “I don’t know.” There is too much mystery that it is beyond my consciousness’s capacity to comprehend. If you have trouble with mystery then you will try and work out mystery, this never ends well and often ends up blaming God. It’s always a travesty to lay blame upon the innocent.
How often do we want out on suffering? We pray the same “get me out of here prayer.” And it’s a fair request. But how often are we able to join Jesus and pray “Yet what I want is not important, for I only desire to fulfil your plan for me.” There are God’s plans in the suffering you go through. Now again, God is not the author, but he is always present with plans for your good. Sometimes we need to lay down our “get me out of here,” for a far deeper and richer experience, the shaping and formation that only suffering can release in my life. Being deeply loved and suffering are two of the most transformational seasons of life. There is gold in the seasons of suffering but our posture to see and receive the gold must be “fulfil your plan in me.” If you want out, you just extend the pain of the journey and miss the gold. I can’t avoid suffering, it’s part of humanity’s existence, but I can miss the gold. There is beauty in the hills of suffering if you are ready to mine it with God. Too much suffering is done in isolation with cries of blame, not eyes for gold.
Application
I will posture myself for the gold of suffering. I will want out, I will ask for out, but I will also be ready for the fulfilment of something deeper. “Yet what I want is not important, for I only desire to fulfil your plan for me.”
Response
Thank you that you get me, you get humanity and its seasons and journeys from your personal experience. Thank you that you are with me in my suffering, that you get me, and that you can lead me to the gold within the season. I love life that is lived in community with you rather than alone. I love this life.
Meditation
Meditate -Yet what I want is not important, for I only desire to fulfil your plan for me.
Consider:
Do you look to blame God for the suffering in life?
Is your posture in suffering one of blame and get me out of here, or are you postured for the forming of self that only suffering can refine?
JOURNEY DEEPER