Matthew chapter 17:22-23 (NIV)
When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.” And the disciples were filled with grief.
John chapter 16: verses 12-13(NIV)
“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
Jesus tried to prepare His disciples for what lay ahead. He was offering them something to hold on to when they faced their darkest time – that they would come out the other side of it when Jesus rose from the dead. But they didn’t want to hear it, indeed Peter even rebukes Jesus for saying so. How do we react when God speaks to us about something we don’t want to hear? It may be something He wants us to do that we don’t want to, or something that He wants us to give up. Do we have selective hearing and only hear what we want?
There may be something that lies ahead of us that God wants to prepare us for and we need to be open to what He has to say to us. He will never expect too much of us. He knows us too well. As Jesus told His disciples there was a time for telling them things they were not yet ready to hear. So the very fact that He told them what was to happen to Him meant that they should have listened to what He had to say, and stored it in their hearts. They would have saved themselves so much despair if they had. They could have had comfort that their great pain and grief would be short-lived.
If the Holy Spirit reveals to us things we need to know, then we need to listen and act accordingly, no matter how difficult it is, because He has done so for our benefit.
Dear Lord,
Thank You that You know us so well that You know what we can bear. You give each of us only what You know we can handle. Help me not to close my ears to what You have to say, even if I find it difficult. I ask in Jesus’ Name. Amen.