Jesus' Attitude Towards Suffering

If I had to choose my least favorite time of the year, the end of January would probably be the winner.  It’s the middle of winter with no hope of spring for another couple of months and it’s the end of the first semester at school – which means hours of homework, term papers and final exams.  Not exactly my definition of fun.  But my dad showed me a verse this morning that made me stop and conduct an “attitude check”; is my attitude during this busy time of life like Jesus?

Jesus, of course, faced much more strenuous circumstances than most of us face, even on our toughest days.  In John 12, He knew that in a few days, He would be betrayed by one of his closest friends, nailed to a tree and left there to die.  He would have to endure an agonizing day, with nails being driven into his hands and feet and a crown of thorns pressed into his head.  But in John 12, we see that Jesus had an amazing attitude about his situation.  Verse 27 says, “Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’?  No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.  Father, glorify Your name!”

Jesus has one of two options: He can plead for God’s salvation or He can plead for God’s glory.  He chooses the latter.  No matter what circumstances we face, we have the same two options.  We can beg God to let us lead an easy, happy life with no obstacles, or we can press on despite the hardship with the sole purpose of bringing glory to our God.  We can complain about where we are, or we can praise God.  We can focus on our own uncomfortable plight or we can fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.  I pray that I would choose to say, like Jesus, “Father, glorify your name!”