Matthew 26-45
Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “sit here while I go and pray over there.” And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with me.” He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “what could you not watch with me one hour? “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak.” Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.” And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Then He came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.
It’s finally springtime! For us folks up north it seemed like an eternity to get here. Every year it’s as if I am reunited with my first love. The flowers are in full bloom beautifully arrayed like a heavenly reflection of God’s rainbow: Yellow sunflowers, red roses, tiger lily’s, bluebells, lavenders, and green goddesses. The nostalgia takes you back to your childhood days; reminiscing the smell of fresh morning dew, wildly running through a field of perennials, and the sun kissing you with its warm glow. The imagery sets up the backdrop for a perfect garden. As a child, perhaps this was a garden that you embraced, a place where you found solace and comfort, a garden where you could slip away from life and ponder your thoughts; A garden where you found God. As the years have passed and life has taken its course, you may find that when you go into the garden there is no sweet music from chirping birds, no fluttering butterflies, and the sun’s now being tucked away behind the clouds. Maybe you have now found that the flowers have all wilted, weeds have sprung up, and what was once a place full of life, now feels, cold, desolate and isolated. An overwhelming since of despair arises, and your soul feels like it’s being seduced by the darkness surrounding you as ponder in your mind, “God where are you?” You began to cry out,“ Father, help me!” “Surely, you see my pain?” Yet, the garden remains silent. Your cries seem to go unheard, pleas unanswered.
I can only imagine this is what Jesus must have felt on that day in the garden of Gethsemane. He knew His life was to be sacrificed, but at that very hour the reality of it all had become very immediate. Jesus knew that His father had indeed sent Him to go through that period of suffering in order to save many souls. Jesus knew that His death was sacrificed so that His spirit could live inside of us. Isaiah 61:1-3 says it best when He says, “…to give unto them beauty for ashes.”
The prophet James admonishes us to “count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience (James 1:1-3). I believe vs.4 really speaks the heart of James:“But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” As a babe in Christ, the book of James was one of my greatest encouragers. It would be very comforting to say that as a Christian our life will be easy, all of our problems will dissipate, or we won’t have stormy seasons. Beloved, that is the farthest from the truth! While the apostle Paul tells us that when we come to God we are saved by His grace, he also mentions, “For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our mortal flesh (2 Cor 4:11).” As Christians we are going to have to go through periods of undulation in this walk. But be encouraged, Psalm 34:19 says, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.” Whatever trying situation we go through we can take confidence in knowing that God is a way maker. If you are at a cross roads in your Christian walk the following may be areas in your life where God is tying to get your attention:
How’s your commitment to the Bible?
We must get in the habit of daily Bible reading and do as Psalm 119:11 suggests and hide the word in our heart. We will be tested from this very Bible we quote and proclaim to live by. It’s so easy to say a verse here, say a word there, but James commands us to “be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving ourselves (James 1:22-25).” There may be many situations where you need a word and your Bible is not handy. Moreover, in a difficult situation do you immediately look to the Bible for inspiration or do you let worry consume you? Have you learned to find scriptures that are parallel to what you are going through and meditating on them until you get peace? Do you set aside time every day to hear what God has to say to you through the Bible? Do you write down notes in your Bible study time? Have you picked up a concordance Bible to help you in your Bible study?
Has God called you to be a servant in the Ministry?
The word “bond” is defined as something that binds, confines, and unites. The Greek word for “servant” is idoulos; in the English language it means “Bond Servant.” In doctrinal teaching bondservants weren’t mere slaves, they were entrusted with their masters affairs. The aforementioned James, in his letter to the 12 tribes of Israel, introduces himself as a “bondservant of God…” To be a bondservant then, one must give up the will for his/her own life and faithfully follow Christ. In Matthew 20:25-28, Jesus’ life on this earth perfectly exemplified the heart of a servant. Vs. 28 “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many,” as Christians that should be the very call of our life.
There were several apostles in the Bible who proclaimed to be bondservants for Christ: Peter, Paul, Titus, as well as Jude. Could it very well be that God is calling you to be a prophet for this generation? Has God anointed you and are calling you into the ministry? In the Bible God spoke directly to His most cherished prophets, but after His son was sent to die on the cross for us, He put His spirit in us that we might all have a living relationship with. The Holy Spirit speaks intimately through the Bible, prompting of the spirit, confirmations, and fasting. Beloved we have to earnestly seek God and press in to hear His voice. Sometimes when we go through a spiritual battle it may feel like God isn’t there. You may have cried out, “God help me, can’t you see my pain?” Beloved, I feel like God is sitting on the sidelines, arms folded, confidence in his heart, and a smile on his face saying, “you can do it!” “I have faith in you!” “I have equipped you with whatever you need!” Beloved, always remember if you are diligently seeking God you always win the battle! Hallelujah! We may have to sometimes suffer emotional battles, physical infirmities, financial setbacks, and the like, but God will give you peace after you come out of the garden. He will give you deeper wisdom and greater insight of things in the spirit. After the storm He pats us on the back saying, “Job well done, you made it through!” “I knew you could do it!” In my times of distress I felt as if God were saying I allowed this battle so you will learn how to be a conqueror, in the end giving the glory to Christ (1 peter 1:6)! If God came immediately to our rescue, not allowing us to go through a hardship it would stunt our spiritual growth. In conclusion, the road we travel on our Christian journey, is preparing us for our appointed ministry in Him.
Is it a test or spiritual maturing?
When we go through periods of testing it stretches our endurance. It calls us to a higher level of faith in him, teaches us how to suffer long, and most importantly, He’s trying to sharpen our understanding in spiritual matters. If we open ourselves up to learning we will realize that God is life’s teacher. When we keep going through the same situation it is because we have not yet learned and grew from it the first time we went through it. I am personally guilty of this. The operative word is grow. It’s one thing to go through something and not get the lesson; but you win the victory when you learn from it, heal from it, and release – be freed from it. If you fail to learn from any life experience it will surely come back in different contexts in your life. For me it was forgiveness. God kept allowing people and situations in my life that required me to forgive. At the time I didn’t understand it as such. My limited vision could only see the circumstance with physical eyes, “Lord, this person did this to me, that to me…you have to deal with them Lord!” “Change them!” when quite simply the Lord was saying no I need to change you! Sometimes we need to take the log out of our own eye (Matt 7:5). We have to learn how to see every situation in our life from God’s perspective. When going through any situation our prayer to God should always be:
1. Why am I going through this?
2. What are you trying to teach me?
3. Is there a character trait you are trying to perfect in me?
4. Give me the patience and peace needed to go through this.
5. Give me wisdom and understanding. Unlock the limited areas in my
thinking, open my mind to what I’m not seeing.
6. Lord, give me the ability to love this person, and/or be content in this
situation.
7. Give me the ability to forgive.
When we pray we must expect to receive what we pray for in faith and believe that He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him (Hebrews 11:6). When we pray oftentimes a request will not simply drop in our lap, and we are not going to automatically change overnight. However, God will bring a SITUATION in our life that causes us to change to that which we pray for.
James tells us to “count it all joy when we fall into various trials because the testing of your faith produces patience (1:2,3). Of course it is not easy to find any type of joy when we are being tested, but that the resulting fruit the trial produces in your life is where the joy will come from. Alas, the flower will bloom again, the grass will be greener, but this time you will have a newfound joy in your heart! You will have gone to the depths of where God lives and now know him more intimately! Hallelujah Beloved! God loves you, be encouraged!
by Puja Nagual
