Will You Drink the Cup?
If you knew that an important part of walking with Christ was suffering would you walk with Him? If He asked you to willingly drink of the cup of suffering would you drink it? If He lead you into the desert would you go willingly? These are all thought-provoking questions that require great thought and an honest answer. I can say quite plainly that a few years ago that I didn't want to suffer. Oh I knew that I would suffer. I had learned from a young age that as a christian, I would experience suffering but when suffering reared it's wretched head I wanted to run far, far away the older I became. I didn't want to experience suffering, and I definitely didn't want to embrace it like I did in High School, but one day a comment that my sister said changed my averse reaction to suffering. One day she plainly said, we need to stop running and embrace suffering. When she said it, I didn't want to accept it, but I was finally ready in my heart to accept what she said. And it was at that moment that I finally understood what she meant. She meant that instead of running away from God's will (because it is God's will that we suffer) I should turn around and embrace it. A few days later, I added the following prayer to my prayer list and I simply wrote,
Lord please help me to drink the cup of suffering willingly.
I wrote this prayer after I read the following verses in Mark 10:20-23 which says,
"Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him. And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom. But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.
Initially the mother of Zebedee's children asked Jesus if her sons could have essentially a position of authority much like we sometimes ask God for without really thinking it through. The world stresses the importance of having authority over others or gaining recognition but Jesus doesn't grant the mother of Zebedee's children her wish. Instead he brings her to a more important question when he asks, "Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of..." He asks this because before we can reign with Christ we have to suffer with Him first. 2 Timothy 2:12 states, " If we suffer, we shall also reign with him." Before the sons could reign with Christ they would have to drink of the cup of suffering first. And so must you and I, if we want to reign with Christ. We must embrace the fact that we WILL suffer in this life. We must suffer willingly. For Hebrews 13:13 says Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. Reproach means "a cause of blame; shame; disgrace." We must bare his reproach meaning we must share in his suffering. So go ahead and go without the camp and share in his suffering when coworkers at work distance themselves from your company, go without the camp when people bring false accusations against you. Go without the camp willingly when people hate you. For John 15:18-20 says, "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you, if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also."
So now I ask you, will you drink of the cup of suffering willingly?
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Lord please help me to drink the cup of suffering willingly.
I wrote this prayer after I read the following verses in Mark 10:20-23 which says,Initially the mother of Zebedee's children asked Jesus if her sons could have essentially a position of authority much like we sometimes ask God for without really thinking it through. The world stresses the importance of having authority over others or gaining recognition but Jesus doesn't grant the mother of Zebedee's children her wish. Instead he brings her to a more important question when he asks, "Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of..." He asks this because before we can reign with Christ we have to suffer with Him first. 2 Timothy 2:12 states, " If we suffer, we shall also reign with him." Before the sons could reign with Christ they would have to drink of the cup of suffering first. And so must you and I, if we want to reign with Christ. We must embrace the fact that we WILL suffer in this life. We must suffer willingly. For Hebrews 13:13 says Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. Reproach means "a cause of blame; shame; disgrace." We must bare his reproach meaning we must share in his suffering. So go ahead and go without the camp and share in his suffering when coworkers at work distance themselves from your company, go without the camp when people bring false accusations against you. Go without the camp willingly when people hate you. For John 15:18-20 says, "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you, if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also."
So now I ask you, will you drink of the cup of suffering willingly?
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