Wednesday Words of Encouragement
Matthew
26:36-46 ~
Then Jesus went with his disciples to a
place called Gethsemane , and he said to them,
“Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of
Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said
to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here
and keep watch with me.”
Going a little farther, he fell with his
face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be
taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Then he returned to his disciples and
found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he
asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The
spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
He went away a second time and prayed,
“My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink
it, may your will be done.”
When he came back, he again found them
sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once
more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
Then he returned to the disciples and
said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and
the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here
comes my betrayer!”
When
I was a teenager I was a member of the varsity soccer team. At the beginning of each practice, we had to
run three miles. Part of that run led us
up a long and steep hill. I hated
running up that incline and dreaded it each day. My chest would burn, my knees would ache and
I could barely breathe as I ran up the hill.
Yet, as time went on, the run got easier. Daily practice conditioned my body so that
over time, I adjusted to the run. I even got to the point when I could look
around and enjoy the view.
“Lord,
I don’t want to do this.” “Can’t you
change the circumstances?” “Why are you
allowing this?” I’ve spoken these words
so many times in my life. Often, there
have been situations that the Lord has allowed that I didn’t want to go
through. And yet, I knew that I needed
to walk that road.
Jesus,
in his humanness, had no desire to die.
He was sorrowful and anxious. He
wanted God to take it all away. Yet, he
spoke the wonderful words, “Not my will, but yours.”
Can
you say that? Is there a situation in
your life that you are going through and you want God to take it away? Are you willing to walk the hard paths laid
out for you if it means God will get the glory?
That’s
so difficult to do, isn’t it? Yet, if we
are going to follow Christ and share in his suffering, that means walking those
hard ways. It means going through a
trial that God may use to help you grow. It means running up those hills.
Allow
God to work in this. Give it to
him. Let His will be done. He will bring His glory about if you let Him
have His way. When you follow the Lord through the rough paths and up the steep
hills, you will begin to grow. You will
find that the view can be beautiful from the hill when you are trusting God in
the midst of the struggle.
Thanks,Terri. I needed this today.
ReplyDeleteGod bless, Kathy