Taking the Cup - A post from Quinn's Dad

God, how do I take this cup from you?  The night when Jesus was betrayed by Judas, Jesus asked the father to take away his cup.

Matt. 39 "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.  Yet not as I will, but as you will."

He was so crushed in his Spirit that he asked God to take it away multiple times.  Three times he got up to go and see if the disciples were keeping watch for him.  All three times he found them fast asleep.  In one of his darkest hours he had no one to share in his sorrow.  Three times he realized how very much alone he was and would be in his final hours.  It was in that moment that he had this revelation and then acceptance.  This was God's plan and there was nothing he could do to stop a plan God had written long ago.  It was a perfect plan that he had been building for centuries.  Jesus soul was overwhelmed with grief and in this moment he spoke one of his most faithful of words.

Matt. 42 "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done."

Jesus already knew the outcome.  He knew the betrayal and suffering that would surely follow.  He knew he would be alone.  Most importantly, he knew of his pending death and yet he uttered those words.

Just like Jesus prayed to his father many years ago to take his cup away, here I sit praying to my heavenly father that he would take my cup away.  This cup that Ali, I, and our families have been given is almost too much to bear.  It is terribly bitter and the last thing we expected in our lives.  I also find that my soul is crushed almost to the point of death.  It is comforting to know that Jesus knows what we are going through.  Some of you reading this can probably relate and have asked many times for God to take your own cup away.  A cup that is also very bitter and one that you never dreamed of asking for.

I feel like their are two directions we can go from here.  Either fight and do all we can to not drink this cup that God has given us, or we can learn one of the most important lessons that the greatest teacher ever taught us.  To drink, and faithfully say, "my Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done."  This is still an unreal and overwhelming thing to state and actually believe in.  It is tough when we don't know the plan that God has for us.  Jesus had faith that his Father's plan was bigger and better than any other alternative.  His death is the reason for our hope, the reason that I can sit here and type these things.  His death teaches us a great lesson, a lesson we can see in Hebrews 5:7-8:

"While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could deliver him out of death.  And God heard his prayers because of his reverence for God.  So even though Jesus was God's Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered."

Even though Jesus didn't want the cup he was given, he was obeying his heavenly Father.  Similarly, though I do not want this cup, I will daily and momentarily lay down my own plans and dreams and say I will drink the cup that God has given me.  I will daily strive to obey my heavenly Father, not because it is something I want to do, but because I have faith in a plan that was written long ago by a God who understands.