“The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?” (John 18:11).
In this day when “eat, drink, and be merry” is on the mind of most people, the subject of suffering isn’t very popular. Face it –the average person wants life to be as fun and easy as possible. They are confused by and resentful of suffering. That is very much unlike our dear Savior,”who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross–“(Hebrews 12:2).
Some, thankfully, have the right attitude regarding afflictions. Such was the case of Dr. Charles Parkhurst who, more than a century ago, wrote this in regards to our text:
This was a greater thing to say and do than to calm the seas or raise the dead. Prophets and apostles could work wondrous miracles, but they could not always do and suffer the will of God. To do and suffer God’s will is still the highest form of faith, the most sublime Christian achievement. To have the bright aspirations of a young life forever blasted; to bear a daily burden never congenial and to see no relief; to be pinched by poverty when you only desire a competency for the good and comfort of loved ones; to be fettered by some incurable physical disability; to be stripped bare of loved ones until you stand alone to meet the shocks of life–to be able to say in such a school of discipline, “The cup which my Father has given me, shall I not drink it?’–this is faith at its highest and spiritual success at the crowning point. Great faith is exhibited not so much in ability to do as to suffer.
