To be fully HUMAN — A Daily Reflection

 

   It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them.  He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword.

 

James and John were two of the original disciples.  At one point, these two had approached Jesus and asked to sit at His right hand and left hand when He came into His kingdom.  (Mark 10:35-45 NIV)  Their request sounded like a good idea at the time.  They could see that Jesus was a great man.  They also realized that He was the Son of God.  What could be more glorious or more noble than to sit at His right and left when He came into His full glory?  What better place to be than at the side of their Master?  But Jesus told them that they didn’t realize what they were asking.  They didn’t realize what it would require them to "drink of the same cup" as Jesus.  Being granted their request did not hold promise for a wonderful, trouble-free existence.  Instead, in order to drink of the same cup as Jesus, they would have to suffer and die, just as Jesus would.  And, as for sitting at His right and His left, that honor was not one that Jesus had the authority to grant. 

 

Just like James and John, you and I do not have the big picture.  We have only that small, limited amount of the picture that we can see right at this moment.  We have no way of knowing or understanding exactly what is in store for us in the next few moments, much less the next days or years.  And, many times, when we pray, we make requests that have consequences we don’t truly comprehend at the moment we ask for them.  The most common of these is praying for patience.

 

Many times in life, we find ourselves in situations that require much more patience than we can seem to muster.  The natural reaction to this type of situation is to pray for patience. What we don’t foresee is that instead of taking a spiritual hypodermic needle and injecting patience into us, God begins to teach us patience by giving us one experience after another that requires greater and greater patience until we finally learn patience.

 

It is the same with everything that we pray for.  God will grant our requests if we’re praying within His will, but He may grant them in ways that we don’t or can’t foresee.  So remember, when you pray, make sure you really want what you’re asking for… and be prepared for what will be required of you when God grants your request.