This cup and God's Strength

Luke 22:39-46 (NIV)

Jesus Prays on the Mount of Olives

³⁹ Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him.⁴⁰ On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” ⁴¹ He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, ⁴² “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” ⁴³ An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.⁴⁴ And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.^[b]

⁴⁵ When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. ⁴⁶ “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.” Emphasis added.

So Jesus, our Savior, after having supper with the Apostles is on the Mount of Olives praying for The Father to take this cup from him but only if it’s His will. Then in vs 43“An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.”

Whoa. God didn’t take “this cup” from Jesus, but He sent an angel to give Jesus strength. Now, we don’t hear/read any conversation between Jesus and this angel of the Lord, but I can sort of imagine what the appearance of the angel meant to Jesus. God had sent Jesus strength, not a way off the Cross. The next verse shows he understood this because Jesus was in anguish and prayed harder. JESUS WAS IN ANGUISH AND PRAYED HARDER. He KNEW that the appearance of the angel with a new dose of heavenly strength meant Jesus had to endure to the end. 

So, what does this passage demonstrate? What can we discern from this and related passages that can be applied to OUR lives and OUR daily struggles? 

If you look up passages about what we as Christians can expect to face in this life if we are truly doing His work, you will find several in the New Testament. For example, John 16:33 states “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”But we have Romans 8:28 to give us some comfort. “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

We are going to have struggles, trials, tribulations. Being a Christian doesn’t mean we will have a happy go lucky life. It doesn’t work that way. BUT we have examples in the scriptures of what to do when we have these trials. We go to God the Father and pray. When He sends us renewed strength, we know to batten down the hatches, stand firm, raise your metaphorical sword, and get ready to fight through your trials. God will give us strength when we go to Him in prayer with our troubles. 

Now this is personal for me. I wrote this blog post years ago, and recently, it has kept popping up in my mind. It seems like we keep going through seasons of downpours with short periods of reprieve in between. We just can’t seem to find long stretches of peace. Burnout, exhaustion, disappointments, health issues, job issues, the list is ever growing. And the begging begins, the pleading, the tears, the anger, the feelings of loneliness, the pain…all asking God to make it stop, to change our circumstances, to have this cup taken from our family (it feels like a whole cupboard at this point).  I constantly want God to take this cup from me. But so far, His answer has either been silent, as in “not now”, or “My Grace is sufficient.” I am leaning towards the latter on my life struggles. (Now, we’ve had many answered prayers. And God has supplied all our needs.) Does it make me anguish and pray harder? Sometimes. And sometimes I remind myself that struggles I have faced in the past have actually led me to people and places that I would not have been. I have been put in a place that for some reason they need me. One day, I will blog about my testimony. There are things that looking back on them you can clearly see a path that God laid out. I like the way the King James version phrases it:

Romans 8:28 King James Version (KJV)

“28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Will you stand firm? Will you ask for strength and courage to face whatever God’s will may be? What do you feel God’s answer has been to your prayers? Has He given you strength? Or has He answered your prayers with a resounding YES? If strength, what will you do with it?

So here I am, praying harder and asking for strength and God’s will. His good and perfect will. 

Song to consider: I Know by Big Daddy Weave. 

Thanks for reading,

In Christ,

Bekah.