Drink your cup

OK, I know if you are reading this, you must be like WAT? Let me explain……

Life has a way of throwing all sorts of stuff at you….frustration, joy, love, peace, difficulty, trials, etc., whatever……..And then you feel all disappointed, all vexed, all discouraged, all infuriated, all frustrated, all rejected, despised, downcast and humiliated………

Is that normal? Sadly yes…….Christ said that in this world, we will have diverse troubles………and boy was He not kidding about that…..In my life, it seems like things get better altogether, and then just as quickly, they get worse again…..and then it becomes a cyclical pattern of joy meets frustration meets joy again, meets discouragement again………….

Recently, the cycle restarted again……things went from great to bad to worse and while I was still looking on, it seemed like I was back at Stage I…..And while I felt humiliated, discouraged, frustrated and abandoned, things began to brighten up when I remembered a couple of things……..

I looked at Christ’s ministry on earth and I realized that He too went through trying and difficult moments……..He prayed that the cup of suffering be removed from Him, but not His will be done, but God’s……It was such a challenging thing for me to understand that some cups need to be borne and their contents drunk as they are……And Jesus drank His cup of suffering with humility and honor before God that we may all be restored back to Him who has loved us relentlessly……..

And thus life sometimes throws us strange and interesting situations……..Things get from bad to worse, and the challenges of life may make it difficult to see the Light of the World before us….I am reminded that the Lord’s ways are not our ways, and that His thoughts are not ours……

Fortunately, that which happens in my life is in submission to Him, and that He knows what is going on in my life, and that He is able to sustain and deliver me from the trials and frustrations in life...I am reminded that life will give us bitter pills to swallow……and that the Lord expects us to speak to Him, let Him know what’s going on, and to trust Him to handle the situation as He deems fit.

Just like Christ prayed and asked that his cup of suffering be taken away from him, but not his will but God’s, I understand that I too need to be willing to drink the cups that are set before me, understanding that I need to let God’s will be done and not mine.

My encouragement to you is that no matter what life throws at you, bring it to God, and learn to drink whatever cups the Lord sets before you….If it is a cup of suffering, of honor, of disappointment, of dishonor, of whatever, drink it in honor and with understanding that if the Lord be with you, nothing can be against you……..

I am reminded of Romans 8:37 “We are more than conquerors through him that loved us”