Going a little ahead, he fell to the ground and prayed for a way out: “Papa, Father, you can – can’t you? – get me out of this. Take this cup away from me. But please, not what I want – what do you want?” Mark 14: 35-36 The Message
If we have lived any length of time, we have probably been faced with a looming disaster that promises to be painful as well as life-changing. A marriage that held such promise in the beginning has become a desert with no water in sight. You pass each other like ships in the night, running without lights and hoping you don’t bump into each other. A parent has just been diagnosed with dementia and, being in good health otherwise, is looking forward to living some time with dwindling mental capacity.
We may spend some time refusing to face the reality of the situation, but there will come a time when we have no choice but to look life squarely in the eye. Usually, we try to find the least painful way to get out of our situation. Often, we will call upon God to remove the whole mess. God is all powerful, isn’t he? He can do whatever he wants! And sometimes, he does relent, and the situation is remedied. We go to marriage counseling together and find that, under the discontent, there is still a foundation of love upon which we can build a future. A new medicine is created that can reverse the dementia, and our parent is responding favorably to it.
But sometimes the situation doesn’t change. Jesus went through the same process. He knew what was coming up and he knew that there would be no relief until he got to the other side of the experience. Nonetheless, he asked the question, “Do I have to?”
When the reply was, “Yes,” Jesus accepted the answer. The thing is that, if God decides we need to go through the painful, it’s for a reason. Something important will happen as a result of this. We may not learn what that is, but I believe that there is a reason for everything God does and, if we have to go through the pain and heartache, there will be a blessing somewhere for someone.
In the case of Jesus, going through his trauma meant that everyone would be able to have access to God in a way that had not been known before. Jesus may have cried out, asking why God had forsaken him but I believe that God never left his side. God walked with Jesus through the whole experience, and I believe that he walks with us through ours. I believe that God feels our pain and suffering even more deeply than we do, but something important has to happen. God paid a huge price for us to have a personal relationship with him. He won’t ever leave us to go through our trials by ourselves.
Becky Gillette is a former teacher, newspaper reporter, and preacher who seeks to take an original approach to life’s lessons. She is the author of “Jessie’s Corner: Something to Think About,” a collection of articles which she wrote for a weekly newspaper.
