More and more I'm thinking that it is essential to choose a mind-set; that is, a particular and permanent mind-set which underscores all of life.
What is in my life right now? Difficulty? Uncertainty? Sadness? Happiness? Dealing with a factious person? Injustice? Ingratitude? What has this to do with mind-set?
Where am I going with this?
Join me as I mingle with the disciples as they walk with Jesus. I learn that He is going to a garden, a garden called Gethsemane. Inexplicably the loveliness of the evening has dissipated and has been replaced by a chill of foreboding. My feet seem leaden and fear threatens to overpower my heart.
At a juncture in the road Jesus stops to pray and we have the awesome privilege of not only hearing the Son of God in conversation with His Father but also we are stunned to hear petitions not for Himself but for us. On this night, this dark night, this night of nights, what does Jesus request for us?
Does He ask that we will escape Hell, that we will be spared all the sickness andsadness of a fallen world, that everything we put our hand to will meet with success?
No, none of these things. He asks that, just as He and the Father are one in each other, even so that we will be one in Them! What a stupendous request and what a stupendous price He would have to pay to make it possible.
But He paid the price and therefore the Father is answering and continues to answer His prayer.
Of course!
Ah; now I'm beginning to understand the importance of the mind-set I choose for myself. If I determine to accept everything in my life as all that the Father is doing in answer to the prayer of His Beloved Son, then everything takes on a new perspective. In the light of this truth we see that the standard for success is never results, but always and only obedience. No matter what is going on, an obedient Christian cannot fail.
Long divided heart, rest on this blissful centre ......that it pleases God to reveal His Son in me.
