Nevertheless Moments
Have you ever been to the place where life was going in one direction and you wanted it to go in another? I have. However for all intents and purposes at that time where I wanted to go and where God wanted me to be were not in harmony. I call moments like these nevertheless moments; the moment when what I want and what God wants are polar opposites, unthinkable even.
I recently read this nevertheless moment which is a defining moment for all of us. It comes by way of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the moment when the weight of the sacrifice, the weight of our sins seemed just too heavy a load to carry.
And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. Matthew 26:39
Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt…
Jesus knew all along the reason he came. He knew that he came into this world to die for our sins but in this moment there in the garden he cried out to his father to take the cup away from him. But as quickly as he said it he decided on the tough thing, the nevertheless. He thought about us. To think that in spite of the fact that He knew there would be times we would disappoint him, times we wouldn’t trust him, times we would turn our backs on him and yet he choose us.
How do you respond to your nevertheless moments? Do you start questioning and arguing with God?
“Give up my last $50.00 God??? But how am I supposed to make it through the rest of the month?”
“My closet is already sadly lacking God and you want me to do what?”
“That person said the most hurtful thing about me God and you’re saying…?”
(I can easily add a dozen other things to that list but you get the idea.)
These are the nevertheless moments. The moments when we should say God I don’t understand but nevertheless…
How do you deal with your nevertheless moments? Do you feel like God had forsaken you in those moments? Do you still trust him? Do you still brag on him? I try, sometimes with more success than others to handle my nevertheless moments gracefully. We never know how many eyes are watching to see just how much we trust this God we talk about.
God has a blessing in store for us also when we obey him. When we trust him during those times when we don’t understand, when we obey him in spite of.
I’m so grateful that Jesus obeyed in spite of. Because of his obedience we have the gift of eternal life the choice of a life with Him or without. What if he had decided that His nevertheless moment was too difficult? Where would we be today?
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I have to remember that, next time I have a nonetheless moments. Thank you for the reminder to push through and trust God all the time.