John Chapter 12: Verses 26-30 (NIV-UK)
‘Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honour the one who serves me.
Now my soul 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!’
Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.’ The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.
Jesus said, ‘This voice was for your benefit, not mine.
Jesus knew what He was facing. In spite of the fact that He had just been worshipped by a crowd who had welcomed Him in to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, He knew that the mood would very quickly change. And He openly confessed how He was feeling, but also that He was going to press through in spite of how He was feeling. In response to that, the Father Himself spoke from heaven, words of encouragement and affirmation of the Son. Yet people with Him were not all in agreement about what they heard, even although they were all in the same place.
I can’t say for sure why that was the case, but I wonder if it was because they were all in different places spiritually. Maybe some people were not in the right frame of mind to be tuned in to hear God’s voice. The same thing can happen to us at a church meeting. If we attend in the right attitude, and hungry for God, then we are more likely to be aware of God’s presence. Yet others may attend the same meeting and not have that same anticipation. It’s not God’s fault. It’s entirely down to us.
Sometimes when we are in a place of turmoil or trouble, we might not feel like going to church, far less be in the place where we put our all into the worship. But, if we follow Jesus’ attitude, and do as He did, determined that no matter what, we intend to press through, then we too are more likely to hear God speak to us.
Dear Lord,
Help me to have the same attitude as Jesus and be willing to press on to do Your will regardless of the way I am feeling. I’m grateful for every encouragement I have had when I have done that. I would echo Jesus’ own prayer, Father. Glorify Your Name and the name of Your Son. Amen.