Grandmother's Gethsemane


Grandmother was a godly woman who helped to shape and mold who I am today.
Unfortunately her life was short though impactful. She was first diagnosed in her early fifties with breast cancer in the days before chemo therapy, partial mastectomies and reconstructive surgeries. Her first response was, "I will not comment or make any decisions until I have been to Gethsemane and spoken to God about it; then I'll be ready to face whatever He asks."
Her option was a radical mastectomy and radiation treatment, quite different from the options of today with the high rates of survival. Although she survived 10 years before a recurrence that ended up metastasizing in her lungs.
If you don't know about Gethsemane, it is the place where Christ prayed to His Father on the night before His crucifixion. He asked God to take the assignment away from Him because He knew the pain and suffering He would have to endure, but He ended His time of prayer with the phrase "Not My will, but Yours."
On my trip to Israel I was able to visit Gethsemane. In the church occupying the spot it was believed Jesus prayed there is a large flat rock where you can envision the agony of that night. Jesus praying for Himself, His disciples and believers throughout the years, sweating drops of blood due to the pain and suffering. There was a service going on in the church for a group of travelers on the day when we visited. As I eavesdropped on the pastor's message, I heard him say, "This is not a vacation, but a journey."
We were each in Israel to experience something different, but for all it was to be life changing.
Just as Jesus had to go through the torture of His death and my grandmother had to suffer with cancer, each one of us has something we are called to endure. Some may seem worse than others, but to the one who is going through the painful time it is real, it is devastating and it calls for wrestling with God in prayer with the ultimate fate resulting in trusting God, by saying "Not my will, but Yours."
Luke 22:41-42 Jesus withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."
www.hearthope.org

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