"The Hard Way"

By: Zach Wood

Matthew 26:39

Going a little father, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.  Yet not as I will, but as you will."

 

 

As a child, I tried getting by with doing things the easy way.  I almost always tried to find the easy way out of any situation.  Come on, what kid would not?  It is so much easier to do things the easy way rather than the hard way.  Through my high school years and then into college, I began to realize more and more that I needed to sometimes get through things the hard way to really learn good lessons.  I needed to be more serious, study harder and really consider my decision making skills.  Even now, as an adult, there are many times when I try to take the easy way instead of working hard to build character and perseverance. 

 

Now, I am not saying that everything in life should be hard or that we should work extra hard to get anything we want.  Some things in life should be easy and easily attainable.  However, there are some things in life that should be hard and take discipline and perseverance.  It seems, too many times in life, we all tend to want things easily.  We live in a world where people do not want to work too hard, but get a lot.  We have become lazy and would rather do the bare minimum to get by.  I have dealt with this problem most of my life and I am sure you probably have as well.  We all struggle with this dilemma.  The fact is, if we always go the easy way in life, we do not grow in our faith and we do not learn hard lessons that build character and personality.  It is healthy for us to learn things the hard way. 

 

I think back to what Christ endured, not just on the Cross, but on His journey to the Cross.  I think back to where the first accusations started.  The verbal torment he dealt with and also the physical torture He endured.  He had one thing on His mind, to fulfill His Father's will.  He knew that He was on the road to dying a cruel death for us.  In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed three times for God to bring Him out of the situation because of the pain and agony, but He wanted to still do the will of the Father.  He knew what He needed to do, but He still pleaded with the Father.  Jesus went from that point and fulfilled His duty to die for our sins.

 

Jesus did things that hard way.  He could have given up on the road to Calvary and just said it is not worth dying for people who will not care.  He could have gotten down off the Cross and said forget these people.  However, He did not and He went all the way!  I am so thankful He chose to die, even though I do not deserve Him.  Aren't you glad He went all the way for you?

 

Many times, the hard way builds the most character in our lives.  Are we willing to go through hard times to become stronger or are we just getting by with the easy ways of life?  Jesus went the hard way so we could have hope and eternal life.