The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"As Thou Wilt"
"Someone at Calvary might have offered such an earnest and well-meaning intercession on behalf of the Lord Jesus Christ. Had God answered, however, the eternal damnation of the entire human race would have resulted."
I wonder if anyone prayed for Him when…
"They crucified Him" (Matthew 27:35).
"Lord, this man has done nothing amiss! On the contrary, He has done all things well! I have seen Him help so many people by His words, His actions, and even miracles that You must have inspired and empowered! Please, Lord, save this man from the terrible fate that will cause Him undeserved shame, suffering and death. Please, Lord, help this man!"
Someone at Calvary might have offered such an earnest and well-meaning intercession on behalf of the Lord Jesus Christ. Had God answered, however, the eternal damnation of the entire human race would have resulted. "Without shedding of blood is no remission" (Hebrews 9:22). We know, of course, that our Heavenly Father would not and did not rescue His beloved Son from the sorrow, agony, forsakenness, and death of the cross. His love for us and for all led the Lord Jesus to such a fate, in order to deliver those who believe from the fate we all deserve. "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God" (I Peter 3:18).
We do well to remember this when praying for others and ourselves in challenging times. Certainly, we can pray for deliverance from trials, and at times we will rejoice with David: "this poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and delivered him out of all this troubles" (Psalm 34:6). However, like the cross of Calvary, God sometimes allows or orchestrates difficulties that must remain, and from which He will not extricate us or others for whom we pray. "My grace is sufficient for thee" declared the Lord to the apostle Paul, who received a sustaining rather than an emancipating answer (II Corinthians 12:9).
We do well to pray as did our Lord in Gethsemane: "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me. Nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt" (Matthew 26:39). The cup could not pass, of course, and the cross had to be borne. The same will be true at times for us. God will answer our prayer, one way or the other, and He will honor and glorify the Lord Jesus by either deliverance or provision of grace. We may certainly pray for the former with well-meaning requests. We must not be discouraged, however, if we find the latter to be our Father's way. We will find Him faithful in either provision, even as long ago someone might have prayed for One with great sincerity, but without the knowledge of how God was fulfilling purposes glorious beyond imagination.
"And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ."
(Acts 17:2-3)
Weekly Memory Verse
Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
(Galatians 5:16)
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