Pastor David Wilkerson's words speak to the the struggles ahead in the second part of the journey.........
To be a man or woman of God, you must at some point be served a cup of pain. Listen to Jesus' words in the Garden: "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt" (Matthew 26:39).
Jesus had spent His whole ministry fulfilling the will of the Father. For three years His life and mission had headed straight toward his cup of pain: the Cross of Calvary. Yet you can hear the pathos in His words when He turns to His disciples and says, "Could ye not watch with me one hour?" (verse 40). Whatever pain was in that cup forced Jesus to sweat drops of blood and to cry out, "O God, if it's at all possible, deliver Me. I'd rather let this cup pass - it's too heavy a burden for Me!"
As Job was being served his cup of pain, he cried, "He hath cast me into the mire....Mine eye poureth out tears unto God" (Job 30:19, 16:20). In other words, "I am sorely pained, and I can't see my way!" David said that when he was served his cup of pain, he made his couch a bed of tears: "I water my couch with my tears. Mine eye is consumed because of grief" (Psalm 6:6-7).
Dear saint, I don't know what your cup of pain may be. But many of God's precious ones have prayed for years for their deliverance - and are still waiting for it. I believe in healing; and I believe we will have afflictions. But I also believe in healing afflictions. David said, "Before I was afflicted, I went astray: but now have I kept thy word" (Psalm 119:67).
Don't think just because you have pain that the devil must be attacking you - that you are not living according to the Scriptures, that you have sin in your life and you're being judged by God. David stated a very simple truth about himself (and us) when he said that had he not been afflicted, he would not have sought the Lord. To say the devil was causing David's pain suggests that the devil was driving him to the Father. At times I've had to endure physical pain for years. Each time, I have prayed for God to heal me. Yet through the pain I could feel God was working in my life, driving me to the Cross and keeping me on my knees. And after each painful episode passed, I could say it had been good for me.
Do you want to be a man or woman of God? Do you want the hand of God on your life? Then you'll drink your cup of pain and bathe your bed in tears. You'll weep not so much from feeling physical pain, but from a pain that's much worse. It's the pain of being bruised and rejected by friends - the pain that parents feel when teenagers trample their hearts and become strangers to them. It's the pain that fills the hearts of husbands and wives when walls of silence are built up and first love disappears.
Oh, how tragic it seems: the turmoil within, the difficulties at home, the restless, sleepless nights - knowing that God is real, that you're walking in the Spirit and loving Jesus with all that's in you, and yet still you're being forced to drink a cup of pain. The Bible says, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous" (Psalm 34:19). And even though God promises to deliver us from them all, it still hurts when we go through them. When Jesus was in His hour of pain, Peter approached Him with a sword in his hand. In essence, Peter told Jesus, "Master, You don't have to go through this! I'll head them off. You go ahead and run - get out while You can!"
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| There's a time and place for the SWORD |
A lot of well-meaning Christians are like Peter. They run around with swords, ready to cut off the ear of the devil. They say to those who are hurting, "Run while you can! You don't have to put up with this. God's a good God - you don't have to drink this cup at all! Claim your deliverance and be done with it!" Beloved, don't try to run from the cup of pain He gives you. Jesus said to Peter, "Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?" (John 18:11). You see, Jesus could drink it now because He saw who was serving the cup: it was His heavenly Father.
Even when you don't see the purpose behind your suffering, you can drink the cup of pain when you see the hand of the Father serving it. It may burn, sear and scar you; it may shake you. But you don't have to be afraid, because the Master holds the cup. You are not drinking death, but life!
Does this make sense to you, or are you more confused? Well, .....don't feel like the Lone Ranger. A Night of Confusion lies ahead.......in "So You Want To Be A Man/Woman Of God? Part 3
YGG,
John
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