Luke 5:12-13 “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man, ‘I am willing’, he said. ‘Be clean!’ And immediately the leprosy left him.”
This man with leprosy believed that Jesus could make him clean, if He was willing.
Shadrach, Meschach and Abed-nego faced a fiery furnace. They knew that God was able to save them from it, but even if He did not, they refused to bow down to another (see Daniel 3:16-18).
Lord, if You are willing You can save us from the fire.
Jesus can do anything. He can do the impossible (see Matthew 19:26 & Luke 1:37).
Do you believe that?
He can rescue us from the fiery trials that we face. He can heal any kind of disease. He can restore broken marriages. He can free us from addictions. He can bring the dead to life.
Nothing is too difficult for Him (see Genesis 18:14 & Jeremiah 32:27).
Sometimes He doesn’t rescue, heal, restore, free or resurrect on this side of heaven, but that doesn’t mean that He is unable to.
What does it mean then?
The night before Jesus faced the fiercest trial of his life, He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39).
Why was the Father not willing to let this cup pass from Jesus, His beloved child?
Was it because He was displeased with the one praying? Was God angry at Him, ignoring Him or apathetic towards Him?
Not at all.
Jesus was His Son, the beloved of the Father. So why was He not willing to deliver His Son from the horrific, grave circumstances that He was facing?
It was love.
Not just love for Jesus but undying love for all of us. God allowed this suffering because He knew the end result would greatly impact the world forever; providing the way to a restored relationship with the Father and life everlasting with Him.
We have the privilege of knowing the rest of the story, but what if we were there in the Garden with Jesus or there at the foot of the cross as He hung upon it? Would we question God’s Sovereignty? Would we wonder why He wasn’t willing to save His Son?
Read the rest of the post over on Purposeful Faith…
