Pastor’s Corner: “Nearest Exit”
Luke 22:42 (NIV) – 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
Someone has said that these words of Jesus are the most difficult—and most important—words that we can learn in any language: not my will, but Yours be done. To say these words sincerely and from the heart takes conviction, courage, and faith. It means trusting that God really is wiser than you are and really does love you more than you love yourself.
When tiny sea turtles hatch they must make their way across the seashore to the ocean. If a person picks them up and helps them get to the water, they will die. Why? It is in their struggle through the sand that their little flippers are strengthened. People mean well. They think they are helping the tiny sea creature. But removing the struggle is actually harmful to the turtles. Without strong flippers they can’t swim. The waves overtake them, and they cannot survive.
How often have we wished for and even prayed for a trouble-free life? No problems. No trials. But like that tiny sea turtle, if we had a life void of trouble and difficult circumstances, our faith would not grow. We would not develop endurance. We would be weak where we need to be strong. Jesus asks us to trust Him in our trials – to rejoice even when we find ourselves stuck in the middle of a storm. Not all storms come to disrupt our life journey. Some come to clear the path. And even the storms that come as a result of our poor choices – He is still God!
When God allows us to go through a storm, it is to allow us to see Him in a new way and on a different level. When God allows us to go through a storm, it is for us to receive something from Him that we cannot receive any other way. The prophet Isaiah nails this truth when he writes: God tell us, “When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you” (Isaiah 43:2, NLT).
But when a storm hits, I usually look for the nearest exit, hoping to escape those high winds and rough waters. I am more than willing to give up my seat in a rocking boat in exchange for tranquil waters and blue skies. Sound familiar? I don’t like pain. I dread uncertain times. I like to be in control.
The things that we assume would make us happy and content, God seems to withhold from us at times, and the things we seek to avoid are the very things that He frequently allows into our lives. Is there some sickness, heartache, pain, instability, demotion, or tension that you are facing at the moment? Rather than looking for the nearest exit from your trial—by whatever means you can devise—turn to God first and take your need to Him in prayer. The same God who created your world can certainly sustain, heal, strengthen, and direct your life.
Romans 5:3, (NLT) – “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance” The goal here is endurance and choosing joy on the path to endurance. Honestly, there have been times when I thought I would come unglued if one more person told me to praise God for my storm. But looking back, there is absolutely no doubt that my greatest growth has come during the fiercest storms of my life. Each storm has become a spiritual marker, a testament to the sufficiency and faithfulness of God. With each storm, my level of endurance has grown. And that is a good thing – painful, but good.
Pray for deliverance; pray for strength; pray for direction… and pray, “Not my will, but Yours be done.” These words are difficult, because they hand the most precious parts of our life over to God. But they are liberating, because they recognize that we are in God’s hands anyway and, if we understood the situation perfectly, we would certainly want whatever God wants for us.
In His Grace,
Pastor Hamilton