8 March

It is in the tough times that the object in which you trust is really put to the test. But, as Henry Ford wrote, ‘When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.’ Trust that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

No one can go through life without facing troubles. If David’s example is anything to go by, anyone in a position of leadership will face more than most.

Jesus, facing disloyalty, disappointment, distress and death, puts his trust in his loving heavenly Father and says, ‘Yet not what I will, but what you will’ (Mark 14:36c). He knows that God is his perfect Father, whom he can address as ‘Abba, Father’ (v.36a) – an intimate way of addressing him, almost like ‘Daddy’ or ‘Papa’.

He knows that God is all-powerful. In many ways he wants to escape ‘this cup’ (v.36b). However, he trusts that God knows best and is willing to submit to his will. It is the supreme example for us when we are fearful of what lies ahead.

Jesus says, ‘Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak’ (v.38). I have to confess this is very often true of me in the face of the challenge to pray more, ‘The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.’

Sometimes you may face difficulties in life not because you are doing something wrong but because you are doing something right. All of us will face tests, trials and temptations in life. You are not alone. Jesus himself never did anything wrong, yet he faced greater tests, trials and temptations than anyone in human history.

Like the ancient Israelites we live in a culture that has very different sexual ethics to God’s. God wants you to safeguard his wonderful gift of sex, and not get enticed into following those around you. Be careful to follow God’s ways. If you do, far from missing out, you will actually find life; ‘the person who obeys [God’s decrees and laws] will live by them’ (v.5).

God’s people are called to be different. St Paul wrote, ‘Do not conform to the pattern of this world’ (Romans 12:2). This call to be different goes right back to the earliest days of God’s people (Leviticus 18).

In the New Testament, the apostle Paul lists some of the activities (including sexual activities) that Christians had been involved in before their conversion. Again, he uses this powerful word, ‘but’: ‘But you,’ he says, ‘were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God’ (1 Corinthians 6:11). Therefore you are to live differently.