Wednesday; November 17

When Jesus was preparing His disciples for His death and eventual departure from earth, He made an interesting observation. In describing His emotional struggle, He said, “Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.” (John 12:27). No one could have criticized Jesus for wanting God to ease the pain of crucifixion; but Jesus understood that even though it would be easier not to endure death, it would not have been better for Him to avoid the cross. It might have been tempting to try to get out of the difficulty He faced, but He realized the value of His pain and sacrifice.
I believe that all of us have sought to have some burden removed from us, but have we ever still had to endure it? When this happens, it might be tempting to believe that either God didn’t hear us or maybe He wanted to discipline us; but what if we had to endure it to help others? What if, like Jesus, this challenge was our purpose in life? In hindsight, it is easy to see God’s hand in supporting Jesus’ death on this cross – is it possible that we are experiencing something similar in our experiences? When things seem tough, could it be that the reason we had to go through the challenge was to fulfill our responsibility and the way that we endured the hardship was through the power of God?
Are things tough for us now? If so, could it be that we are being used for the benefit of improving the lives of others?

Think About It!

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