Here's a harrowing thought for you Christians this morning. The most heartfelt, passionate prayer ever lifted was prayed by Jesus, the very one to whom we pray and expect answers. And it was unanswered.
I read this last night in Andrew Byers's book, Faith Without Illusions. Andrew went on to point out that despite our desperate efforts to idealize this Jesus we worship, he most needfully remains Christ crucified. When people ask, "Is Jesus real?" The answer ought to be, "depends." It depends on which Jesus you're looking for. A Jesus who gives us everything we need and could ever desire, a Jesus who cures every disease we have, and A Jesus who makes us comfortable for eternity--this Jesus is a lie. He never existed. The Jesus who does exist is gloriously different. He came to die, and he ever lives. His last and greatest prayer was unanswered, and yet he submitted. The truth is, sometimes Jesus cures a person's disease. But sometimes he doesn't. God doesn't always answer every prayer, and especially not always the way we want. And he's good for it. He is love. He loves us. He's big. He's to be feared. He's to be worshiped. Are we worshiping an ideal? See, Jesus didn't come to be worshipped. He came to suffer and die. We worship a Jesus crucified because we are a people most sinful. That death was because of us, and for us.
We suffer when our view of God is idealized by our culture, by our own sinful desires. When we subtly though wrongfully believe that He won't give us more than we can handle, we miss, as Andrew pointed out, that "God will sometimes give us way more than we can handle for the purpose of disassembling our self-reliance and establishing reliance on God alone."
So when your prayer goes unanswered, you're in the company of Jesus. And then see God for who He really is, without illusions. Because only then will you, like Paul, understand the secret of being content. (Philippians 4:12)
Jesus, the real Jesus, the lamb of God who was slain, alone, is worth it.
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