Luke 22:41-44
He pulled away from them about a
stone’s throw, knelt down, and prayed, “Father, remove this cup from me.
But please, not what I want. What do you want?” At once an angel from
heaven was at his side, strengthening him. He prayed on all the harder.
Sweat, wrung from him like drops of blood, poured off his face.
Scripture
quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002
by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs,
CO. All rights reserved.
This morning as we got ready
to go to church, I listened to the live broadcast of worship services at
“Mother Emmanuel” A.M.E. church in Charleston, South Carolina. Just
four nights ago, 9 members were massacred there by a 21-year-old man who
claimed to hate black people and told them, You’ve got to go.” Today,
members of the congregation – and Charleston at large – gathered to
worship God…to remember those who were killed… and to offer hope and
encouragement to one another – and to the world.
During the
service, the altar was opened for prayer, and as several knelt there,
the crowd sang the hymn, “Great is Thy Faithfulness.” It is hard for
many to fathom how we can sing these words in days following such a
heinous act. How can we sing that God doesn’t change – and neither does
His compassion and care - when nine people who were gathered to study
God’s word and pray were gunned down, even as they worshipped Him?
How
can we declare that everything we have ever needed has been provided by
God…that His mercies never fail…when the very people who welcomed a
stranger into their midst were betrayed and assassinated? The better
question is…”How can we not?”
We need look no further than Jesus’
actions in the Garden of Gethsemane, where He cried out to God to
relieve Him of the suffering that was to come – to “take the cup” of
impending brutality, torture, and agonizing death…but only if it be
God’s will. And many will ask, “How can we serve a God who would allow
such atrocities…even to His only Son?” Again, the answer is found in
another question…”How can we not?”
The full answer lies in the
greatness and magnitude of God’s love and commitment to us. This began
with Noah and God’s promise to never wipe out His people again. God made
covenants with us to always have our back…to always offer us love,
mercy, second chances, and forgiveness. And the only way to really make
this work was to sacrifice His only Son – Jesus – on the cross. And
somehow, whether we realize it or not…the only way God could make His
perfect plans work was to call these nine church members to Heaven at
the hands of a deranged gunman. We may never see the “end result” of
this event…we may never fully understand what God intended by allowing
this horrific crime to occur…but we must accept it and trust that God is
in the details.
Be assured that God will not waste these lives
– or the way in which they ended. This is evidenced already in the
media coverage and the public reaction to these deaths. Additionally,
scripture tells us that an angel appeared to comfort Jesus in His grief
and anguish. Surely God sent angels to surround those nine on Wednesday
night – and He is surrounding many with angels of comfort and compassion
even today as they grieve, mourn and sort through the roller-coaster
emotions of this aftermath.
I pray that God never calls you or me
to face a deranged killer. But I know that He will test each of us
throughout our lifetimes. How will we fare? Will we have the strength,
courage – and faith – to say, “Your will, not mine”?
Will we call out for mercy with the intent to fully accept whatever
decision God makes? Will we still be able to claim the blessings of
God…even when our world seems to be crumbling around us?
Do we
fully understand God’s faithfulness over us…how He is holding up His end
of the covenant bargain? Or do we question His presence, particularly
when tragedies like this one arise? Are we fully committed to God’s
will…no matter how difficult it may seem? Can we sing “Great is Thy
faithfulness” with confidence in all circumstances…and a heart for
serving Him in all things? Could THIS be what God intended in
Charleston last Wednesday? Will this be the day that we begin to make it
so?
©2015 Debbie Robus
Showing posts with label seeking God's will. Show all posts
Showing posts with label seeking God's will. Show all posts
Daily Devotional for April 14, 2015
James 4:1-3
What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Isn’t it because there is a whole army of evil desires within you? You want what you don’t have, so you kill to get it. You long for what others have, and can’t afford it, so you start a fight to take it away from them. And yet the reason you don’t have what you want is that you don’t ask God for it. And even when you do ask you don’t get it because your whole aim is wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
For more than a year, we’ve gone out to eat with the children after church on Sunday. There are about five restaurants that we have rotated through…and of course, the children have their favorites – Pizza Hut® and Burger King®, for starters! Timothy and Zola “campaigned” for one of these two options every Sunday, so Greg would say, “Okay, today is Zola’s day to choose,” or “It’s Grandma E’s day to choose,” and we would rotate through the five of us in just over a “month of Sundays”!
One Sunday, Timothy chose Pizza Hut® - and the next week, it was Uncle Greg’s turn. Timothy asked, “Uncle Greg…where do you want to eat? I think Pizza Hut® would be a great choice…don’t you? Wouldn’t you like to eat at Pizza Hut®, Uncle Greg?” We had to laugh at his “diplomatic” attempt to manipulate the choice.
This is cute when one is five years old. It’s not cute at all when you are our age…and we are trying to manipulate God for what we want, rather than what He has in store for us. We sometimes pray in specifics…as we should. But our motives are often misguided at best…if not downright selfish. So instead of asking God to guide our interview for a new job and to work in the hearts of those who decide which person to hire, we say, “LORD, please help me get this job.” We give no consideration to whether this is the place God wants us to be, because it’s where we desire to work!
Or we pray for God to heal us…or to fix a relationship…or to help us get a new car or pass a particular class…or to save a loved one from dying…or whatever is on our heart. And we never even ask God what He desires. Because you see…that really doesn’t matter to us, quite often.
Several weeks ago, our pastor asked us “Are you making a difference…or making a point?” It’s a valid question for all of us. I know that learning to ask God for His will over our own is a hard practice for many of us to master. We are not wired to submit to the will of another – not even to God! So we “campaign” for whatever our “Pizza Hut®” desire is…even to the point of trying to manipulate God into doing it. “LORD, it would be great if You could take this cancer from me…don’t You think that I could do so many wonderful things if I wasn’t sick?!” Or, “LORD, I really need a new house/car/job/relationship…so that I can do even more for YOU!” Pah-lease! (insert eye-roll here!) God is not fooled for even one second!
If we will learn to pour our hearts out to God…and even tell Him what we want (like He doesn’t already know!)…He will listen. But we must humbly and genuinely submit to Him that what we really want – and need – is His will for our lives…and we are ready to accept this and eagerly abide in whatever He designs for us. We can stomp our 5-year-old “spiritual feet” and demand our own way…or we can surrender to God’s will and actually make a difference. The choice is ours…what will you decide?
©2015 Debbie Robus
What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Isn’t it because there is a whole army of evil desires within you? You want what you don’t have, so you kill to get it. You long for what others have, and can’t afford it, so you start a fight to take it away from them. And yet the reason you don’t have what you want is that you don’t ask God for it. And even when you do ask you don’t get it because your whole aim is wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
For more than a year, we’ve gone out to eat with the children after church on Sunday. There are about five restaurants that we have rotated through…and of course, the children have their favorites – Pizza Hut® and Burger King®, for starters! Timothy and Zola “campaigned” for one of these two options every Sunday, so Greg would say, “Okay, today is Zola’s day to choose,” or “It’s Grandma E’s day to choose,” and we would rotate through the five of us in just over a “month of Sundays”!
One Sunday, Timothy chose Pizza Hut® - and the next week, it was Uncle Greg’s turn. Timothy asked, “Uncle Greg…where do you want to eat? I think Pizza Hut® would be a great choice…don’t you? Wouldn’t you like to eat at Pizza Hut®, Uncle Greg?” We had to laugh at his “diplomatic” attempt to manipulate the choice.
This is cute when one is five years old. It’s not cute at all when you are our age…and we are trying to manipulate God for what we want, rather than what He has in store for us. We sometimes pray in specifics…as we should. But our motives are often misguided at best…if not downright selfish. So instead of asking God to guide our interview for a new job and to work in the hearts of those who decide which person to hire, we say, “LORD, please help me get this job.” We give no consideration to whether this is the place God wants us to be, because it’s where we desire to work!
Or we pray for God to heal us…or to fix a relationship…or to help us get a new car or pass a particular class…or to save a loved one from dying…or whatever is on our heart. And we never even ask God what He desires. Because you see…that really doesn’t matter to us, quite often.
Several weeks ago, our pastor asked us “Are you making a difference…or making a point?” It’s a valid question for all of us. I know that learning to ask God for His will over our own is a hard practice for many of us to master. We are not wired to submit to the will of another – not even to God! So we “campaign” for whatever our “Pizza Hut®” desire is…even to the point of trying to manipulate God into doing it. “LORD, it would be great if You could take this cancer from me…don’t You think that I could do so many wonderful things if I wasn’t sick?!” Or, “LORD, I really need a new house/car/job/relationship…so that I can do even more for YOU!” Pah-lease! (insert eye-roll here!) God is not fooled for even one second!
If we will learn to pour our hearts out to God…and even tell Him what we want (like He doesn’t already know!)…He will listen. But we must humbly and genuinely submit to Him that what we really want – and need – is His will for our lives…and we are ready to accept this and eagerly abide in whatever He designs for us. We can stomp our 5-year-old “spiritual feet” and demand our own way…or we can surrender to God’s will and actually make a difference. The choice is ours…what will you decide?
©2015 Debbie Robus
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