Does He Really Understand Our Trials?

“Jesus and his disciples came to a place called Gethsemane. Jesus said to them, ‘Sit here while I pray.’ He took Peter, James, and John along with him. He began to feel despair and was anxious. He said to them, ‘I’m very sad. It’s as if I’m dying. Stay here and keep alert’”—Mark 14:32-34 (CEB).

Distressed? Agitated? Afraid? Would you use these words to describe Jesus? Most of us would not. However, in Mark 14:32-34 above, we read that Jesus experienced emotions just like the rest of us.

I’m participating, along with other church members, in a 40-Day Lent study by Adam Hamilton. In Day 10 of Hamilton’s “24 Hours That Changed the World: 40 Days of Reflection,” he reminds us that Jesus was feeling what any human should feel when facing what He was going to face. “In Jesus Christ, God experienced anguish, sorrow, and suffering as human beings do.”

In Hebrews 4:15-16, Paul wrote, “For we do not have a high priest unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but, we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Have you ever been distressed, agitated or afraid? I have. I recall a time in February 2007 when I received a phone call from the wife of my oldest son. My son was being transported by Life Flight to a Tulsa hospital for an injury he’d sustained in an accident.

It was in that moment that I understood, really understood, how much God loves us.

 My son, who is what you would describe as a “horse whisperer,” had been picking up a horse from a client when the animal spooked. Whirling around, the horse kicked, striking my son in the side of the face and knocking him unconscious.  Thank the Lord, my son was not alone. A friend called 911.

THE SPIRIT IS WILLING

Jesus said to them, “The spirit is willing, the body is weak.” 

In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asked Peter, James, and John to keep watch while He went to pray.  On His return, they were asleep.  He addressed Peter (who was not ever going to desert Him), “Simon, are you asleep?  Could you not keep watch for one hour?  Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.  The spirit is willing, but the body is weak” (Mk 14:37b-38).

It is not enough to will, to wish or hope to be something.  It takes motivation and intentional effort to reach a desired goal.  So often, people who for very good reasons need to lose weight are unsuccessful, because they are unable to put in the hard work and discipline required to achieve their goal.  Remember that, although the spirit is willing, the body is weak.

The apostle Paul once said, “What I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do” (Rom 7:15b).  This is an indication that willing is not enough to achieve a goal.  Jesus said to them, “The spirit is willing, the body is weak.” 

What goal are you trying to achieve?  How much effort are you putting into it?  For example:

·      If you’d like to know the word of God better than you do now, you’ll have to make the effort, put in the time to read and study it, consistently, sometimes alone, and other times with a group.  You’ll need to pray for understanding as you read, ask questions, when something is unclear.

·      If you don’t want to keep repeating a particular mistake (sin), you’ll have to get past wishing; you have to take positive steps.  In addition to praying about it, you might have to stop going to certain places, stop hanging out with a particular group, or make the needed changes.  You can’t just wish this, that, and the other, and then hang out with the same people who drag you down.  Remember, the body is weak.

·      If you wish you prayed more often, you have to make a deliberate effort to set time aside to pray consistently.  It shouldn’t be when you are free, because you might never be free long enough to pray; the devil will always find you something that appears more urgent, that needs your immediate attention.  Remember, the body is weak!

from Pearl Nsiah-Kumi