The Cup of Suffering

I’ve been studying the book of John this summer, taking one chapter a week and this week we find ourselves in Chapter 18.  At this point in the story, Jesus had been preparing His disciples for the days ahead that would soon lead to His death and Judas has already betrayed Him for 30 pieces of silver that set a series of events into motion.  Now they find themselves in the Garden of Gethsemane with a group of Roman soldiers, accompanied by Judas on the scene with the intent to arrest Jesus and take Him into custody.  Simon Peter steps forward and draws His sword and cuts off the ear of the High Priest’s slave in an attempt to protect Jesus and interrupt what is about to take place.  But Jesus calmly commands Peter to put His sword away and then asks him a question.

“Shall I not drink from the cup of suffering the Father has given me?”

~John 18:11~

As many times as I’ve read this story over the years, I've never really paid much attention to this question, but it is most definitely one I have to process and let sink in this week.  Here’s Jesus, knowing full well what is about to take place and understanding the pain and suffering that He will endure as God’s plan unfolds, yet He doesn’t panic…He doesn’t try to fight it or demand justice…he simply acknowledges who He is and is content to let God’s plan play out.  I don’t know about you, but when I’ve been wounded or judged unfairly, I want to jump up and down and scream, “This isn’t fair!!  Where’s the justice in this?”  I want to take matters into my own hands and confront the problem or person and make sure that they know the truth and I want to fix it…like yesterday!

Unfortunately, it’s when I take matters into my own hands, that I usually end up in trouble and in a pile of sin because I forced the issue rather than accepting the “cup of suffering” that is part of God’s plan.  And no, it’s not always fair or fun, and yes, it is sometimes painful, and you just want to pull a “Simon Peter” move and let the other person have it because they’ve gotten it all wrong.  (Although I wouldn’t recommend slicing someone’s ear off, lol)

But here’s the thing…if Simon Peter’s actions had stopped God’s plan from unfolding, Jesus wouldn’t have gone to the cross, and where would that leave us?  Sometimes we can have all the rights in the world to react to a situation that is unfair and has wounded us, but if God has a different plan and we choose to ignore it and go our own way, we will likely miss out on what He wanted to teach us, bless us with, or use to touch someone else’s life.  It’s a difficult thing to hold our tongues, to lay those injustices down, and trust that God will take care of the rest of it in His timing.  Maybe He will address the issues in a short period of time, and maybe they will never be addressed, and we just have to accept that and know that God is sovereign, that He loves us, and that HE has a plan not to harm us, but to give us a hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)

As usual, God’s timing is perfect, and while I am so tempted to cry out for justice and “assist” God in revealing some things, LOL…I know that He’s asking me to lay it down and I want to walk in obedience with Him because as hard as that might be and as many times as I might pick it back up and have to lay it down again, I know that He will not abandon me, that He will give me all the things I need to do what He is asking,  and He has promised a great reward at the end of this journey.