Lessons from the Low with Jesus...
In the very last moments on Gethsemane,
Jesus had some very human moments.
They are great examples for us,
On how to handle despair and disappointment.
1) CRYING OUT
Do you cry out to God?
Do you let me know ur hurting?
Do you show Him your ugly, angry or hurting side?
Or do you feel you need to be pristine for God?
In Gethsemane, Jesus showed all his sorrowful colors,
The side of Him begging and pleading,
The side of Him so distressed He was bleeding from His head,
The side of Him NOT wanting to do what God asked Him to do.
This gives us such great permission to do the same.
To be a hot mess with Jesus,
To struggle with obedience,
To have feelings in front of God.
But the beautiful ending is this...
"Yet not as I will, but as you will."
You don't have to LIKE it, but you can still choose to obey God,
You may not AGREE with it, but you can still choose to obey God,
You may not UNDERSTAND it, but you can still choose to obey God.
2) DISAPPOINTMENT
Jesus poured into his disciple for three straight years,
They say him perform every miracle,
Some even saw Him transfigured into His glorious form,
And YET, when Jesus needed them to pray for Him,
To stand guard for the hour or testing,
They couldn't keep their stinkin' eyes open and fell asleep.
"Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?"
Not only that, one of them betrays Him,
Another one denies Him and cusses up a storm to prove it,
The rest scatter like rats,
And He is left all alone after all that He's done to help others,
No one is left standing by His side,
Not one disciple.
Jesus understands disappointment,
Jesus understands betrayal,
Jesus understands heartbreak,
And He has overcome it all,
And promised a restoration of heart and soul,
To make us stronger and better than before.
So on this Friday of remembrance,
Looking at what Jesus endured in His last moments,
Have hope in the fact that Jesus gets us,
He gets the hurt, the pain, the heartache,
He GETS it.
"Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank You for sending your one and only Son to die for us,
To pay for our sins,
To reconcile us with You.
Thank You for showing us a perfect Father's love,
A love deeper than any human love,
A love unconditional and unwavering,
To a race so wretched and undeserving.
Thank You for putting up with unrequited love,
For putting up with betrayal, broken promises and heartache,
Thank You for not wiping us out and starting from scratch.
Dear Jesus,
Thanks for willingly being the sacrifice, the lamb, the offering,
To be the blood sacrifice,
That paid debt for all mankind,
A price we can never pay back.
May we honor You with our brief 80 years here on earth,
May we keep our eyes on eternity,
That the temporary conveniences of this world,
Would not seem bigger than Your eternal rewards.
Help me remember the depth and richness of your sacrifice,
Your obedience,
Your humility,
Your grace.
Dear Holy Spirit,
Thank you for residing in us,
As a deposit, a sign and symbol,
That we are Christ's and Christ's alone.
Thank You for leading us in every way,
Never leaving us or abandoning us,
Always encouraging us and correcting us,
In the most gentle and generous way.
Thank You that the power that raise Christ from the dead lives in us.
Glory to Jesus who sits on the throne,
Glory to the Son who gave His life,
Glory to our Lord and Savior,
Glory forever and ever,
In Jesus name, Amen."
