S.O.A.P. For 02/09/2009

S: Matthew 26:39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as You will."

O: Jesus, our Jesus, our Lord and Redeemer, was in pain. In the previous verse to this passage it says, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death." His heart and soul were torn and in pain. He knew what he had to do, knew what was just around the bend. The time was near. And yet, he bore it on his shoulders and finished with "not as I will, but as You will." He knew the pain he would endure, but at the same token, he knew the reason for it and knew he had to fulfill his purpose and didn't look for a way out.

A: How many times do we think that what we are going through is too much? How many times do we think what we're handed is unfair? How often do we plead with God to help us out of what we're going through? Or to fix it? What if we're meant to go through it to teach us something? Or to teach someone close to us something because we might just be strong enough to handle it in order to affect someone else? What if the trial is meant to lead us and we are being weak and spoiled and unteachable? Maybe that's why some stuff happens over and over again?
I try so hard to count it all as joy and make lemonade out of my lemons and just ask God for the strength to get through it. That doesn't mean it won't hurt, that the tears won't come; It just means that we are learning to surrender to Him. Lord send the rain!! Pour out Your Spirit! Let the fire fall, heal us one and all, Lord send the rain!
We can't heal until we go through the fire. We can't just sit idly by and wait for it to fix itself, we can't tip toe and then say "I can't do it!". God, hep me be teachable. Bring me to the place You have for me, and help me to be worthy of that place.

P: Almighty Father, Jehovah, I love you so much, and as I would my earthly father, I want to make You proud of me. I pray for a heart strong enough to handle the trials sent my way that I may garner something from them. I pray that I may stop asking You to "bail me out", because I think I'm good and deserve better! I pray that I see I can never be that good and that I see that even Jesus had to fulfill His trial. The greatest trial of all time. So who am I to think that things should always be easy. I thank you for the strength you give me for each day to survive my trial. I thank you for the heart to drive on and I thank you for the fellowship of these believers, my spiritual family, that can also be there to help see me through... I pray that I may see that there is good in the bad and that I focus on that. I ask for wisdom to see that in the trials there is always a lesson from a Father how knows I need it, from a Father who knows I'm capable of learning it, and from a Father who loves me enough to seek my perfection. I know I never will be, but thank You for continuing to try...

In Jesus name,
Amen