Ed Wrather preaches on the concept of surrendering to the 'cup' of life that God has given us, drawing parallels between Jesus' acceptance of His sacrificial mission and our own acceptance of life's challenges. Through the example of Peter cutting off the high priest's servant's ear and Jesus' response, we see the contrast between worldly reactions and God's perspective. Failure to surrender to our circumstances can lead to various issues like stress, anxiety, and addiction, emphasizing the importance of yielding to God's plan for our lives.

Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus. So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?” (John 13:10-11 NASB) The ear-cutting incident occurred when they came to arrest Jesus through the betrayal of Judas. With the actions of Peter and the words of Jesus, we can see the difference of how the world views things and how God views things. What was the “cup” for Jesus? The “cup” for Jesus was to come to this world walking as a human being for some 30 years and finally to suffer and die on a Roman cross even though He was innocent of any wrongdoing. To some extent, we have no control over our own personal “cup” of life. Jesus, however, chose to give up the glories of Heaven coming to earth to become our Savior. We had no personal control or choice as to whether or not to be born or when to be born into this life. We had no personal control or choice as to whom our natural parents would be. We do have some control over what career or profession we will pursue but even with this, there are some limiting factors. We are limited in some career and professions by our intelligence and by our financial capability to obtain the education needed. Some people like my son, Nick, are born with Downs Syndrome or other physical or mental handicaps. Some people during their lifetime develop physical or mental handicaps. That is their “cup” of life. What is your “cup” of life? Have you accepted your “cup” of life as did Jesus? There is an old word often used in connection to the call of God on a person’s life - especially preachers. That word is “surrender.” The dictionary defines “surrender” as “To relinquish possession or control of to another because of demand or compulsion” or “To give up in favor of another.” It is not just preachers that need to surrender to their “cup” of life. A failure to “surrender” to the “cup” of life God has given to us can result in many problems. Those problems coming from a lack of surrender can result in stress, anxiety, depression, and other mental ailments, and the physical problems that come with them. In addition, this is the underlying cause of the addictions that many people have developed. With nearly every addiction there is an underlying problem but even deeper there may be this lack of “surrender.” Therefore, the first place to begin in overcoming an addiction is to surrender to the “cup” of life that you have been given. Have you surrendered to your “cup” of life? If not now is the time to do so. Surrender to all that God has for you and then you will have peace and experience a closer walk with your Lord then you have ever had before.