After “The Last Supper”, Jesus and His disciples made their way to a garden named Gethsemane. The name “Gethsemane” actually means “an oil press”, which turns out to be fitting for what it is most known for. During the next minutes or hours Jesus, in prayer with His Father was pressed by the weight of the next steps that His life and calling would lead Him to and was transformed through obedience. Jesus made it clear in His prayers that His preference was to not drink the cup of the wrath of God fro all sin, but His desire, His choice was to obey the will of His Father. In Gethsemane, in prayer, Jesus yielded to God’s will and chose to bear our iniquities and our sins and to provide peace through His own suffering.
While I would never consider to compare any of our current circumstances to that which Jesus went through in Gethsemane, I do believe that many of us find ourselves in positions in which our preference, our instinct is to want to not have to endure our current difficulties. I believe that in these places we must learn from Jesus’ example of prayer and obedience. I encourage you today, if you are enduring a challenge, don’t pray for ways to get out of it, pray for God to show you His will and purpose in the midst of it. There are times when God’s will is rescue but there are also times when God’s will is endurance. I believe that we will only be able to discern, yield and obey through a devotion to prayer and a devotion to obedience. Trust God enough today to believe that He will not destroy you, but rather, He will use every circumstance for His glory and for your good. He knows the plans He has for you and they are always for a hope and a future.
A few hours after Jesus chose to give up His life and accept the wrath of God for every sin ever committed. That place of yieldedness was created in prayer in Gethsemane. Don’t despise the times of being pressed, they will always transform you into your eternal purpose; meet them in prayer and fulfill them in obedience and you will be amazed at the transformation that God will bring to and through you.