Father, All Things Are Possible Unto Thee;

In Mark 14:36 Jesus says, "Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt."

How sweet is it to read that even the Perfect Savior LONGED for His Father to take away the challenge that was in front of Him?  As I traverse my life's path, I find myself frequently asking my Father to fix the problems that are clogging up my way.  Usually, I try to add a, "not what I will, but what thou wilt..." to the end of it, but in my heart, I am hoping the problem will just go away.

As I read this verse I read it in two ways:

1.  Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me.
and
2.  Father, all things are possible unto thee; not what I will, but what thou wilt.

Hoping that the Lord will spare us from an especially heinous trial does not make us bad sons and daughters of God.  However, we need to be prepared for an answer that assures us that this trial is NECESSARY for our good and growth, and then we must rely on Him to make it possible for us to bear our cross with grace.

 In January, 1989, Sister Holland gave a speech to the students at Brigham Young University, and as part of that she said;

"I have discovered that the Lord’s “no’s” are merely preludes to an even greater “yes.”"

Very often, as most of us have discovered, the Lord allows us to go through the fiery furnace so that we may have our dross consumed and our gold refined (LDS Hymns #85).  In knowing this, we press forward with faith that He will bring us through, despite the pain of our challenge.

I know that He will.