Accept the Unacceptable
On the last day of my trip to the Holy Land we went to the Mount of Olives. It was there Jesus took his disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. He knew he was going to be arrested that very night and he wanted the support of the disciples in his greatest moment of need. Jesus prayed the prayer that forever changed human history, “Father, if you will, please don’t make me suffer by having me drink from this cup. But do what you want and not what I want”. (Luke 22:42) Jesus did the will of the Father not his own will he went to the cross and died for our sins. Because he did everyone now has the opportunity for relationship with God and eternal life.
But standing on the Mount of Olives Jesus would have looked down on Jerusalem. As I stood there I realized how close he was to Jerusalem but also how close he was to escape. All Jesus had to do was walk up the mountain and down the other side and he would have been in Bethany, a hike that would have taken him only an hour. Jesus did not have to go to the cross he had an easy and quick way to escape the pain and suffering that awaited him. He chose to accept God’s will rather than do his own will – to accept the unacceptable.
It is never easy to accept the unacceptable in your life. Accepting what you cannot change is the pathway to peace but it eludes many. We can fight against what we do not like, or want or even need. We cannot change the weather, we cannot change the past and we positively cannot change another person against their will. Years ago I went through an experience where I could not accept what was happening to me. It was unfair, I was being wronged but there was nothing I could do to change it. Finally, after weeks of misery and making my family miserable I asked God to help me to accept the situation. Absolutely nothing changed except me. I had peace even though the injustice continued I received peace by accepting what I could not change.
Jesus accepted God’s plan even though he did not want to walk the path of suffering. He chose acceptance and that freed him to fulfill God’s will. We must determine whether God has a plan for us or he doesn’t, whether God is for us or he isn’t, whether God has our best interests in mind or he doesn’t. Accepting God’s will means walking to our destiny not away from it.
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