| The Ministry of Comfort |
Chapter 7 |
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It is interesting to trace the course of the Gethsemane prayer, and to see how the note of submission gains the ascendancy over the pleading for relief, until at length the struggle ends in acquiescence and perfect peace. The first supplication was, “O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass away from Me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt.” A little later Jesus returned again to His pleading and we hear this petition from His lips: “O My Father, if this cannot pass away, except I drink it, Thy will be done.” The fierceness of the struggle in the Sufferer’s soul was being mastered by the spirit of submission to the divine will. Soon the agony was over. The victory had been won. We have at least an echo of the comfort which filled the heart of Jesus in His word to Peter, a little later, when that warm hearted but rash disciple had drawn his sword to resist the betrayal and the arrest of his Master: “The cup which the Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?” There was no word no of supplication for the passing away of the cup. Jesus had made way for His Father’s will and was comforted.
There is no other way by which true comfort can come to any heart in time of sorrow but by acquiescence. So long as we cannot say, “Not my will, but Thine be done,” the struggle is still going on, and we are still uncomforted. Comfort is peace, and there is no peace until there is acquiescence in the will of God. Whatever the sorrow, therefore, if we would find divine comfort we must seek to bring our will into complete harmony with our Father’s will.
There are reasons why we should do this in every grief or sorrow. One is that God has a plan and a purpose for our life. There is something He would make of us, and something He would have us do. What this divine thought for our particular life is the divine will discloses. Every time we resist this will and refuse to accept it at any point, we mar the beauty and completeness of our own life. God’s purpose for us runs through whatever sorrows or sufferings there may be in our lot; in all our experiences God’s will for us is the bringing out of His image in us. Only by acquiescence in the divine will can we have our life fashioned after this heavenly pattern.
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