“Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” John 12:27-28a NIV
As Jesus got closer and closer to the cross, He fully understood the difficulty of what He was about to endure and He was troubled by it. I’m thankful that verses like this are included in the Bible. I tend to forget that Jesus experienced heartache and pain just like we do. I need to be reminded that as a man, Jesus experienced all the difficult emotions you and I wrestle with. But even when He was troubled, He never lost His spiritual focus. “What shall I say? Father, save me from this hour?” Let’s be honest, isn’t that what we say when we are troubled? We cry out to God and beg Him to take us out of the difficult circumstance. We believe that pain, physical or emotional, is the enemy and should be avoided at all cost. We don’t usually consider that our pain may be in line with God’s plan. That just doesn’t seem to fit with our understanding of the love of God. But didn’t the Father love Jesus? Of course He did!
Jesus never lost sight of the plan of His Father, or His role in that plan. He knew it was the Father’s desire to redeem man from sin, and had accepted the pain that was required to carry out that plan, even though He was troubled by it. His focus was not on the emotions He had to wrestle with, but on the desires of His Father, and the glory He could bring Him. That’s the mindset every Christian should strive for! When we are struggling through difficult times, instead of focusing on the pain, we must learn to focus on our Father. As we seek Him, and resign ourselves to endure whatever pain accompanies His plan for our lives, trusting He will not ask us to bear more than we are able, we experience His peace. As our mindset shifts in the direction demonstrated by Jesus, our prayers shift from, “Father, take me out of this situation” to “Father, help me glorify you in this.” I’ve no doubt that as we make this shift, we will find that God’s strength is more than enough to carry us through and we will experience abundant joy as we glorify His name.
Is your goal to live a pain free life or is your goal to lead those around you to Christ? If God told you He could use you to save them, but the plan included suffering on your part, would you still ask Him to use you?
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4 NIV
Could it be that God is perfecting you through difficulty so you will be more effective in winning the lost? Often times, pain is not the enemy but the very tool that God is using to mold you into someone He can use. Perhaps these thoughts are some of the things Jesus was alluding to when He said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24 NIV)