Take this cup away

And he said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me." (Mark 14:36).  Have you ever prayed this prayer?  Or, if you haven't actually prayed it, have you ever thought it? 

This morning at the Gospel Coalition, James MacDonald preached on Psalm 25.  The theme for this year's conference is preaching Christ in the Old Testament.  The sermon was a great encouragement, and convicting at the same time.  Psalm 25: 20, David states "Keep my soul, and deliver me;"  David cries out for God to deliver him.  Correspondingly, Christ cries out to his Father to deliver him from the weight of having the sins of the earth poured out on himself. 

Yet, neither of these passages stop at the cry for deliverance.  David continues "Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You.  Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, For I wait for You."  David wants deliverance, but more than deliverance he wants to be sure he is trusting and waiting on God.

Christ continues the verse with And he said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." (Mark 14:36). "Not what I will, but what you will."  I think we often times pray for deliverance from our trials.  Whether the trial is minor, or whether it is major.  Whether it is a broken down vehicle in the middle of nowhere, or stage four cancer raging through the body of our child.  Trials are hard to bear.  They are often unwanted, pressure building stages of our lives.  Yet, it is the pressure that turns a dirty old piece of coal into a beautiful sparkling diamond. 

I am nothing more than a lump of coal that the Master is beautifying. Next time the pressure builds, and the trials seems more than you can bear, don't leave your prayer at a prayer of deliverance -- remember to finish it with "Not what I will, but what you will"  and wait.  Wait upon the Lord Your God and see what wondrous things He will do.  Romans 8:28 -- And we know that all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.  As believers, we have been called to the greatest calling -- to share the gospel to a lost world. God has a greater plan than you or I can see, we must simply WAIT and TRUST.  God will bring us through the trial.