He chose not to

All too often I find myself in the trap of thinking, " Man, this is just not fair!" The word "fair" has been promoted in our culture as something that should happen, something that we deserve. But all of us know that life is all but fair, and in fact, life seems to often run more along the lines of "unfair".

One morning, I read this passage from Sarah Young's "Jesus Calling":

"I could have called legions of angels to rescue me at any point. Imagine the self-control required of a martyr who could free Himself at will! All of this was necessary to provide the relationship with Me that you now enjoy. Let your life become a praise song to Me by proclaiming My glorious presence in the world."

(If you haven't read this book before, it's written as though Jesus is speaking directly to you, the reader). 

All I could think about when I read this was talk about UNFAIR! 

Here was Jesus, the only man who never sinned, about to die a brutal death. And what struck me in a new way was that He could have freed himself at.any.point. Any second, any moment, He could have been free of the pain. He could have thought, "Well this is just not fair!" and peaced out in a second. 

BUT HE DIDN'T

How many of us are ready to get out of a tough situation because it just doesn't seem fair? How many of us are willing to look PAST the currently painful, unfair, and difficult situation to the potential beauty it may bring? #preachingtomyself

Jesus stayed on that cross, knowing full well that He could end His misery at any time, because He saw past the trial of the cross to the victory of the future. Namely, the victory of having His children live in relationship with Him, and ultimately spend eternal life in His presence. 

This brought a change to my thinking about the "unfairness" of life. If Jesus, who had done no wrong, faced unfairness at the ultimate level of death, who's to say that I "deserve" life to treat me well and treat me fairly? Instead, I can choose to treat the "unfair" situations in life with the perspective that Jesus did. 

Having the perspective of Christ means that we can remember that this is not the end. Amid the unfair and sometimes unexplainably tragic trials, there is a VICTORY on the other end. It may take weeks, months, or years to see the victory, but the Lord does promise to ultimately work all things for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). 

Second, we can pray for the same self-control that Jesus showed as He hung on the cross. Self-control when we face our remarkable desire to escape our trials, and the self-control that we need to persevere once we realize our trials are unescapable. 

Third, and perhaps the most important thing we can do, is to remember that: 

Jesus COULD HAVE. But He CHOSE NOT TO. 

Of all people in history, the man who never sinned, should be exempt from all unfair circumstances, right? He could have saved himself. But He chose not to, because He loves us, loves me, loves you more than we will ever fathom. 

He LOVES the fact that He and you can talk directly. He LOVES that you will get to spend eternity with Him. 

Let us forever praise His name, because it was for US, that 

HE. CHOSE. NOT. TO.