As the Father gave me commandment

As the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. These words spake Jesus unto His disciples shortly before His betrayal and crucifixion. There has been much discussion regarding whether Jesus fully understood all that He would have to go through. Luke tells us in his writing that He clearly did.(Luke 18:31-33 – Then He took unto Him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished. For He shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: And they shall scourge Him, and put Him to death: ant the third day He shall rise again.) Understanding that Jesus was fully aware of the coming suffering He would endure, we are able to see a great example set before us in our present day service of the Lord. He went willingly to the place where that betrayal would be played out and where His execution would unfold. This was His Father’s commandment unto him & so He carried it out.
We find in the prayers He cried out in Gethsemane that He was not without anxiety regarding the coming events. We also see the human side of Christ in His expression and request to have the cup removed from Him. How often in life we do desire to have a cup of persecution, trouble, sickness, loss in death, or other situation removed from us as well! The Hebrew writer then tells us that Christ understands these desires. Hebrews 4:15 reads, For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Through the wonderful gift of prayer we, like Jesus did, are able to petition the Lord on High to come to our aid in our time of need. We are able and invited by the Lord to bring these requests to Him and we are told that He hears and will answer. However, our answer is not always in the affirmative. There are times in life when we must go through these things. It is not given unto the People of God to be exempt from these times. Even the wonderful Saints of old were given to sickness, death and even sometimes martyred. These events, though painful, are necessary both in the lives of the saved and the unsaved. They are the result of sin entering into the world and they are to be expected.
After that we have received peace in our hearts that the Lord has heard our prayers, we then should in faith prepare ourselves for what must be. Many people would use this as evidence that our faith was unfounded or that God is not able to answer our prayers by changing the situation. In fact, it is an opportunity for us to express our undying faith that whatever the Lord decides, we trust Him. And that we will continue to go through these situations accompanied by His presence in the person of the Holy Spirit. This example closely mirrors the work of Christ when gathered together with the disciples, He said,”As the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.”
For all of God’s people reading this blog, the exhortation set before you today is knowing that sometimes we must suffer in this life, Arise, let us go hence. Keep moving forward with the Lord. He will not leave you forever in that place of suffering. He will deliver you and bring peace when the time is right. He will – for He has promised to do so. All of this life’s pain, suffering, and torments are temporary. Whether in this life or in eternity, the Lord will deliver us & preserve us as a result of the obedience that Christ displayed in His going to Calvary for our sins. Because of Him, we can know that God will answer and in His time deliver.