Have you ever had to do something you honestly didn’t want to? What lengths would take to avoid it? Would you find every excuse you could think of? Run away and hide? Resort to violence?
In Jesus’ prayer in the garden of Gethsemane he asked God to take the “cup” away. The cup was a symbol of pain, suffering, and the wrath of God. Jesus was overwhelmed by what He knew was to come and desperate to find another way to fulfill his mission on earth. Jesus’ prayer ends with a concession to His Father, “may Your will be done.”
We will all have times when we find ourselves in situations that we wish we could avoid. Times of hardship, distress, and sheer discomfort, sometimes the result of our own doing. In those moments we’ll have to choose whether we fight, flight, or drink the cup.
Moses had every excuse in the book when he met God at the burning bush. He wanted to avoid returning to Egypt and confronting Pharaoh at all costs. Even after the Israelites had been delivered from slavery, Moses questioned God almost every step of the way to the Promised Land which ultimately caused him to never make it there. Quite a bitter cup to drink.