This morning while reading the words of Jesus, I came to John 17:1 where He said, “The hour has come.” He was speaking of the suffering He would endure — the betrayal, the lashes, the crown of thorns, the weight of the cross, and ultimately His death.
He went to the garden because His soul was heavy, fully aware of the pain that was coming. While His disciples slept, He fell to the ground in prayer. The weight was so great that His sweat became like drops of blood. Alone in the darkness, He poured His heart out to the Father. And when He rose from the ground, His resolve was firm: “Shall I not drink from the cup of suffering the Father has given Me?” (John 18:11).
Here is the way of perfect surrender. Jesus did not run from what He dreaded; He prayed until His heart was aligned with the Father’s will. Prayer did not remove the suffering, but it gave Him the strength to endure it.
The apostle Paul reminds us of the same truth: “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Corinthians 4:17). The trials of this life may feel overwhelming, yet in God’s hands they are never wasted. Christ’s time in the garden led to His strength on the cross — and through His cross came our salvation.
Others who have walked through trial have echoed this same lesson. Oswald Chambers once said, “We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties.” And Elisabeth Elliot, who knew suffering well, wrote, “Leave it all in the hands that were wounded for you.”
The garden teaches us where true power is found. Not in escaping hardship, but in facing it with hearts strengthened through prayer and fellowship with the Lord. And the same God who sustained His Son has promised to sustain us: “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).
Whatever cup of suffering we may be called to drink, His grace will be enough, and His glory will outweigh it all.