The Victorious Outcome to Suffering!
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. James 1:2-3.
As a Christian we will experience many trials to our faith. Some we cause and some Satan causes. How we respond to each depends on if we overcome or fail. In examining the life of our Lord Gethsemane not only shows us how to overcome fear, but how to succeed in our Christian lives. In Gethsemane, Jesus prayed a prayer, “not my will, but thy will be done” (Luke 22:42). On Calvary, Jesus shouted “it is finished”. (John 19:30). Jesus submitting His will to the Father sowed the seeds of victory on Calvary. During our lifetimes, we will face countless hardships, but the only way we can prepare for them is to go through our own Gethsemanes. Gethsemane is a lonely place. It is a confusing place. But it is a needed experience in our lives. This special place can build character or destroy us but once again it is how we respond.
We must be Gethsemane disciples. Gethsemane was not an isolated experience for Jesus; He went there regularly; it was His custom. (Luke 22:39). Spiritually, His whole life was a Gethsemane, He was constantly facing the enemies’ alternatives, but He was determined to follow the will of the Father. The Son of God who knew no sin took on the consequences of sin. The more selfish a person is, the less he will experience Gethsemane. He has no crises, no agony, and therefore no victory. Why, because he never submits his life to Jesus. Believers who live in the atmosphere of Gethsemane fulling the Lord’s call on their lives constantly reap victory.
Gethsemane divide disciples into three groups; those who decide to ignore God’s will, those who decide to consider God’s will, and those who decide to do God’s will. Victory comes only to the one who chooses to act God’s will.
I can avoid Gethsemane if I choose to do so, but I cannot avoid Calvary. The tragedy is that if I avoid submitting my will to the Father, I will be in poor condition to face evil. The glorious sequence of Calvary is the Resurrection, and Ascension but it starts in the Gethsemane of one’s life. If I follow the Lord through the trials of life, the Lord response to me is” he who overcomes I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, even as I overcame and sat down with my Father on His throne, (Revelations 3:21).