When God Doesn’t Answer

And He went a little further and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will. Matt. 26:39 

 

Who could have had a more optimistic view of the future than Jesus, the one who held eternity in His hand? However, in the temporal world He was thrust into, He found Himself at this moment in a much different state of mind. As I consider His words here, I believe there are several things worth mentioning. First, we all live in the tensions between the joys of heaven and the realities of earth always. For Jesus to know of sitting at the right hand of the Father while He agonized in Gethsemane is something worth pondering. There may have been a throne to sit on and a banquet to attend in heaven, but the reality on earth at that moment was something far different. As believers we are told to set our minds on things above, but that in no way can take away from the present struggle right before our eyes. Our struggles are real, our pain is real, and so is the fear and trepidation life brings. To simply cast off the realities of life to a fanciful view of heaven is simply, for most, not realistic or helpful. Jesus’ words here identify Him with that part of our own existence. Jesus wept, anguished, feared and almost fainted at the reality that was before Him.

The next thing worth noting, is that Jesus did what we are all inclined to do when faced with great difficulty, He asked God for help. In this tender moment Jesus is identifying with anyone and everyone who has ever looked to the heavens in their time of need. It is quite amazing to behold this aspect of Jesus’ humanity. There was the creator of the universe, in His time of need, doing simply what we all do, asking, God, if it is possible, please help me. This also reveals another important aspect of this moment in the life of Christ, and that was, He knew the Father was aware, and that He knew of His situation, and more so, even personally what He was going through. We should take great comfort today in knowing that we can have that same confidence as we look up and ask for help from our heavenly Father. Remember, Jesus never wondered if He was there, or if He heard, Jesus’ biggest concern was would He answer, and how would He answer.

This brings us perhaps to the most important thing, and that is, God answered, and didn’t answer at the same time. So many times we look to heaven and cry out to God and there appears to be no answer. We often interpret the occasion as if God doesn’t care, or maybe that He is not there at all. We can take comfort in knowing that the same thing happened to Jesus. God responded to Him as He most often responds to us, in silence! Jesus called out, but no answer. Now Jesus could have said like many do, God you’re not there or you don’t care. The problem was, that Jesus knew God was there, without any doubt. Jesus was also recognizing something else, and that was, God was answering in the silence. You see, saying nothing here, was the same as saying no! God simply answered Jesus no in the silence. One thing we must come to realize is that if God wishes to change our situation He could and would. When we pray for relief and it doesn’t come we must do as Christ did before us, press on! More importantly though, we must also realize that the silence may signify that we are perfectly in the center of His will!

Rev. Joel M McDuffie
3/3/2015