We all experience pain and grief. Where do we turn in these times? Who may let us down and who will never let us down? Looking to Yeshua, we see that when he was “grieved to the point of death” He turned in prayer to the Father and He asked for support from His closest friends. His friends wanted to help Him. They tried to support Him, but though “the spirit is willing”, “the flesh is weak”. The Father, however, is always available and wanting to listen to our prayers.
Jesus in Gethsemane
32They came to a place named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, “Sit here until I have prayed.” 33And He took with Him Peter and James and John, and began to be very distressed and troubled. 34And He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch.” 35And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by. 36And He was saying, “Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.” 37And He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? 38“Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 39Again He went away and prayed, saying the same words. 40And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him. 41And He came the third time, and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough; the hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42“Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!”
Yeshua knew He was going to be taken into custody, beaten, and crucified. He knew why and when. He knew what it would feel like. He even knew that His friends would fall away and deny Him and He would be alone. No wonder He was grieved to the point of death. He was honest enough in His relationship with the Father to come before Him and ask for the suffering to be removed, but faithful and obedient enough to trust the Father to decide and to obey.
Let us seek to follow Yeshua’s example as we experience difficulty. It is hard to imagine what we could face that could be worse than what He faced on our behalf. Pray for help from the Father. Share openly and honestly with Him your feelings and emotions. Pray for His will to be done and then accept it.
Sometimes we find ourselves in the position of supporting someone who is going through difficulty, as the disciples found themselves in as Yeshua prayed. Truly pray for the Father to help. Sometimes we need His help even to just be the support that our friends and family need. Yes, our flesh is weak. Pray for strength and endurance.
As a final thought, some say it is wrong to pray “if it be Your will…” when bringing our supplications and requests before the Father. They say it is double minded and lacking faith, that instead we should essentially demand our way and expect it when coming before the LORD. We can see from today’s scripture that this logic is flat out wrong. Yeshua prayed for the father’s will over His own. It was not weak in faith or double minded. It was being submitted to the Father.
I invite you to pray with me:
Father, please help me be submitted to You fully, even when Your plans are not my plans. Please help me comfort those who are in need and guide them to You. Please help me to turn to You when I am in difficulty and trust You completely. Amen.
Shalom
Devotion by John in service to Christ
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as i understand it, grief is mental pain. when we experience physical pain, like touching fire, we can pull our hand out and lessen the damage, but the pain only increases until the wound is sufficiently healed. When Yeshua asked the Father to ‘remove this cup’ it was an honest response anyone would ask. When He followed this entreaty with ‘not my will, but Your will be done’, He was telling Father He was scared and in pain, but that He was also ready to continue, ready to break on through to the other side of His mission; which was the Father’s will. Sometimes the Father asks us to endure grief and pain so His will is done. We are not the story, just a part of His story. If I’m wrong in my thinking, I trust Hashem will give me the grace and insight to correct my thinking, I’m just a kid in the candy store. Thank you for this contemplation.
Amen