Cups and Wills

Anyone who knows me knows that I like having interesting coffee cups. They represent parts of my life, places I’ve been, and people I’ve loved. There’s a few that are my favorites, that one from Campaignpros.com (a business from some years ago that I used to own.), the one we got from the Cossak capital at Chyhyryn, and my favorite cup from Lviv. All these cups bring back memories from different times in my life.

Jesus had a different kind of memory of the “cup” He had to drink from.

Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and He said to His disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” 37 And taking with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, He began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then He said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with Me.” 39 And going a little farther He fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” Matthew 26:36-39

In Matthew 26, Jesus prayed to His Father and asked three times, “If it is possible may this cup be taken from me.” Jesus was not rebelling against His Father’s will when He asked that the cup of suffering and separation be taken away. He actually was confirming His desire to do God’s will by saying, “Not as I will, but as You will.” His agony was worse than death because He paid for all sin by being separated from God. To be able to say, “Not as I will, but as You will,” takes a very strong trust in someone. Do we have that kind of trust in our Heavenly Father? Are we willing to submit all and say, “Whatever is Your will Father, I am willing to trust You?”

Father, help us to have the kind of love and trust that Your Son Jesus Christ had, in that He was willing to trust You to the utmost. We pray that we will search for Your will in our lives and when You speak to us, we will say, “Yes Father, whatever You will.” In Jesus’ name, Amen.

(The idea and some text for this post came from Sharon Roberts from Bettendorf Christian)