Spared, Saved, or Strengthened
May you be accompanied and attended to in every hard reality that is not yet removed.
I want to be spared or saved, not strengthened.
Jesus prayed, “‘Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.’ And there appeared to him an angel from Heaven, strengthening him in spirit” (Luke 22:42-43).
This letter is being sent out the day after Easter, when all is well. But it’s being written during Holy Week, when all is horrific and hard.
Jesus is in the garden, full of grief. He doesn’t want what lies before him, and he names it out loud. Remove this. Take this away from me. Spare me. Save me.
I hear you, Jesus. I am tired of drinking this cup.
In a few days, the crowds would gather, palm branches in hand, and cry the same. Hosanna! Deliver us! Save us! Spare us this suffering!
I am among them. Do away with this pain for us, Jesus, I plead! I don’t want to live with this anymore.
I wonder how those cries landed on Jesus’ ears. Jesus, who could have put an end to his own suffering, but didn’t. Jesus, who could have called on more than 80,000 angels to fight the wrongs and win the day, but chose not to (Matthew 26:53). Jesus, for whom instead of legions, one lone angel appeared.
Jesus knows what it’s like to be strengthened instead of spared. This is what I want to say to you.
I also want to say it is okay to not want to drink the cup that is before you.
Friend - it is okay to not want to drink the cup that is before you. You are in good company here. I pray you be spared from it! I pray you be saved out of it! But if, dear one, if you are not, I pray your sweet soul will be strengthened in and through it to the very, very end.
May you be accompanied and attended to in any and every reality that is not yet removed. Amen, amen, and amen.
Spared, Saved, or Strengthened: Our Little Life Words of the week.
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DEEPER DIVE
Ponder:
What is your reality that is not (yet) being removed? What would you like to say to Jesus about it?
Practice:
Write a prayer of lament.
Lament Psalms follow a typical pattern:
Protest: Tell God what is wrong.
Petition: Tell God what you want Him to do about it.
Praise: Expression of trust based on God’s character.
(For some examples, take a look at Psalm 6, 10, 13, 17, 22, 25, 30, 31, 69, 73, 86, 88, 102.)
Play:
The song we’re playing this week is: Hallelujah Sing by Porter’s Gate, because Jesus, in his suffering and ours, offers us this cup of life from which to drink.
Pray:
Spare me! Save me! Strengthen me, I pray.
So good, my friend! Many of us long to not have to be strong yet again. We just want to BE. We long for calm quiet. Thank you for acknowledging that the cup is just too heavy to lift one more time. ♥️