S) "27 'Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, "Father, save Me from this hour"? But for this purpose I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify Your name.' Then a voice came out of heaven: 'I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.'"
John 12:27:28 (NASB)
O) Jesus, close to His betrayal and death, is now getting a little uneasy in His humanity. His Spirit is at war with His flesh. His body resists death, but His Spirit knows He must obey. He is still several hours away from His arrest, at this point, and already He is aware of the conflict within Him. It will indeed get harder for Him (which we see in His prayers at Gethsemane), but early on, He openly confesses this struggle, and is affirmed by the Father's response to Him.
A) This is the perfect example of how I am to respond to difficult times - especially as it pertains to my obedience to what God is calling me to do. God has a purpose for everything He does. He had a purpose when He created me. He had a purpose when He redeemed me. It is not up to me to determine that purpose, it is up to me to obey. When obedience is hard (and I refrain from using a word like, "feels" hard, because sometimes it actually is hard), then I must put my mind back on my ultimate purpose: to glorify His name. When I do that, it draws my mind into the focus where it should be, so that I can obey on purpose.
P) Father, You are worth it all. I want to glorify Your name. Help me to keep this in my central focus. Every act of obedience, every personal sacrifice, every devoted moment, should all be with the ultimate purpose of glorifying Your name. Help me to keep my priorities straight, so I am not getting things twisted, Father. Let Your will be done. In Jesus's name I pray. Amen.
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