Bless the Lord, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Psalm 103: 1-5
Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever.
And the Lord said to Moses, “Has the Lord’s arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.” Numbers 11:23
The children of Israel were once again complaining. Amongst other things, God had brought them out of Egypt, parted the Red Sea, and given them manna to eat. Yet Moses found himself listening to more crying and complaining. The complaint this time was that they craved meat. God heard their complaining, and it made Him angry. Moses was also so irritated at the people for their complaining that Moses himself did a bit if complaining to God:
So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have You afflicted Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all these people on me? Did I conceive all these people? Did I beget them, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a guardian carries a nursing child,’ to the land which You swore to their fathers? Where am I to get meat to give to all these people? For they weep all over me, saying, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ I am not able to bear all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me. Numbers 11: 24-25
Besides the fact that Moses felt a tremendous burden having to oversee over 600 thousand men on foot alone, he also asked God how the meat was going to be provided for all of them.
God gave Moses instructions to gather 70 elders that He would anoint with the same anointing that Moses had to help lead the children of Israel. He also instructed Moses to tell the people that the Lord will give them meat for a whole month. He told the people they will have so much meat until “it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it.”
In his humanness Moses begins to question how God would supply meat for over 600,000 men. He gives God suggestions as if God needs Moses’ suggestions.
And Moses said, “The people whom I am among are six hundred thousand men on foot; yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month.’ Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to provide enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to provide enough for them?” Numbers 11:21-22
Like we often do as we pray, Moses gave God possibilities of what he thought God could do to feed the people. In our humanness we limit God because we are limited as people. Our humanness causes us to be short- sighted.
And the Lord said to Moses, “Has the Lord’s arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.” Numbers 11:23
Of course, as we know, God gave the children of Israel Quail. In doing so, He didn’t even let them fully digest their first gathering of quail when He put a plague on the people for giving in to their craving.
We can be pretty hard on the children of Israel. They complain at every turn. Moses, God’s chosen man to lead the children of Israel to the promise land, also is worn down and feeling burdened and pressured with the responsibility of getting these people to the promise land, that he complains too.
How many times have we been in a position that lead to complaining? How many times have we given God suggestions on how he could work out a situation? The good news? Despite our complaining and short-sighted suggestions, God’s will always prevails, even when we get in the way.
God’s will always prevails.
God makes it very clear throughout the story of the children of Israel leaving Egypt, then wandering in the wilderness for 40 years before entering the promise land, that He gets angry when we complain. Our complaining causes wandering in the wilderness and all the problems “the wilderness” brings.
In the end, though, God’s will always prevails. I guess the question is, are we going to surrender to His will or get in the way by murmuring and complaining?
Let’s not wander in the wilderness. Surrender is way better than complaining.
And the Lord said to Moses, “Has the Lord’s arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.” Numbers 11:23
I beseech (urge) you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, (in view of) that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, (a Christians offering of himself or herself to God) holy, acceptable (pleasing) to God, which is your reasonable service. (true and proper worship)
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable (pleasing) and perfect will of God. Romans 12:1-2 NKJV & NIV
Therefore, I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1: 6-7
Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; Philippians 1:6
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
And do not return there,
But water the earth,
And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower
And bread to the eater,
So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. Isaiah 55: 8-11
I sought the Lord, and He heard me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
They looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces were not ashamed.
This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him,
And saved him out of all his troubles. Psalm 34:4-6
I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 2 Timothy 4 :1-5
Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Numbers 11:10-22
Then Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, everyone at the door of his tent; and the anger of the Lord was greatly aroused; Moses also was displeased. So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have You afflicted Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all these people on me? Did I conceive all these people? Did I beget them, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a guardian carries a nursing child,’ to the land which You sworeto their fathers? Where am I to get meat to give to all these people? For they weep all over me, saying, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ I am not able to bear all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me. If You treat me like this, please kill me here and now—if I have found favor in Your sight—and do not let me see my wretchedness!”
So the Lord said to Moses: “Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand there with you. Then I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit that is upon you and will put the same upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone. Then you shall say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have despised the Lord who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever come up out of Egypt?” ’ ”
And Moses said, “The people whom I am among are six hundred thousand men on foot; yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month.’ Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to provide enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to provide enough for them?”
And the Lord said to Moses, “Has the Lord’s arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.”
So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord, and he gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tabernacle. Then the Lord came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied, although they never did so again.
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Philippians 2:12-13
Teach me to do Your will,
For You are my God;
Your Spirit is good.
Lead me in the land of uprightness. Psalm 143:10
Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! 36 And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37 For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.” John 4:34-38
For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing. Galatians 2:19-21
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
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.” Mathew 26:39
your kingdom come, your will be done, Matthew 6:10
Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him 1.deny himself, and 2.take up his cross daily, and 3.follow Me. Luke 9:23
So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these? He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.” He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep. John 21:15-17
The other day, while at work, I received a very unusual phone call. The lady on the other end was an acquaintance. We barely spoke. I couldn’t remember how long it had been. She asked me if she could meet with me. She said it had nothing to do with work and that it was a “spiritual matter.” We made an appointment for the very next day.
I got busy the next day and had forgotten about our appointment until I happened to be up front and saw her walk through the door.
We sat down and she began to share her heart. She shared with me that God had impressed upon her to “come talk to Lori Casto, she will pray with you.” She said she knew it sounded crazy, but she was just being obedient. She went on to tell me how she wanted me to pray with her about finding a man to marry. She also said that she wasn’t just looking for a man to marry, but someone who saw her worth & value.
Her heart’s desire was for someone that looked forward to seeing her and spending time with her. She told me she never had anyone that found her to be worthwhile. My heart was saddened as she shared. I told her how she does have worth, and God sees her as worthwhile. I quickly understood why God put my name on her heart to pray.
Memories of my life 26 years ago flooded my mind as I began to share with her. 26 years ago, I went through a divorce. Over the next 4 years after my divorce, I longed and craved for someone to love. I feel like many times the same feelings she was sharing with me were in my own heart all those years ago.
God knew my longing heart 26 years ago and God knows her longing heart now. After given the opportunity to share my story with her, we then took the opportunity to pray. I look forward to getting a call from her telling me about the man she is going to marry.
After she left, my mind continued to go back to that time 22 years ago when I had gotten to the end of my rope after having been on my own with my son for 4 years. I was working at a book publishing company bored to tears and there was no decent man in sight. I had put my resume together hoping and praying for the right job to open. I even interviewed for a sales job at a local radio station that offered a good salary but didn’t feel clear about taking it.
My mom saw an ad for an assisted living facility called Wedgewood Estates and I reluctantly sent in my resume. (The sales job in radio sales was becoming more and more appealing.) On a Monday morning, as I was driving to work dreading my day, I prayed these words in desperation… “Dear Heavenly Father… I need a job and a man.” That same Thursday I received a call from a man named Bill Casto, the owner of Wedgewood Estates. He did a quick phone interview from an airport. I later had 2 more on-site interviews, one of which was with Bill Casto and his son, Randy.
Despite Randy not wanting to hire me because of my lack of experience, (for a job I wasn’t even sure I wanted) Bill hired me. 3 years after accepting a position at Wedgewood, I married Randy Casto. 17 months after that, our daughter Maria was born. It’s almost 19 years since we got married and my husband still enjoys spending time with me. He sees my value. We are very blessed. I am very blessed. If God can do that for me, He can do that for you.
If you ever think for one minute God doesn’t hear your heart’s cry, I can promise you He does. If you ever think you are broken and you can never be fixed, I’m here to tell you, you’re wrong. If you ever think God’s plan and your plan can’t be merged to make one amazing plan, I promise you, it can. The closer you are to God, the more your desire and God’s desire become one. I had to be willing to try it God’s way, though. I am so thankful for a God who answered my heart’s cry. I’m thankful for a God who took 2 broken people and gave restoration. I’m so thankful for a lady who obeyed God to seek me out to pray with her. It was as much for my benefit as it was hers. Time gets in the way. It can cause you to forget just how awesome God has worked.
…Just as it is right for me to think this of you all because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. Philippians 1:7
Can you imagine a table full of all your favorite foods? You have been invited to the biggest, most lavish, banquet of your life. The finest, most expensive food awaits your attention. The line is long, but you will get your turn. The plates of the people ahead of you are piled high. Everyone is enjoying their choice of what’s been laid before them.
You notice every plate has one common thing…the finest, most sought after dessert. No one wants to miss out on this fabulous dessert. No one is waiting to come back for seconds to get this dessert. After all, what if it runs out? Everyone is partaking of this fine dessert. Everyone desires this fine dessert.
Just as everyone is partaking of this fine, sought after, dessert at the banquet, we are all partakers of God’s grace. We all desire God’s unmerited favor, mercy, and compassion. We all can enjoy God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense. The great news- we don’t have to stand in line to get it and it never runs out. There is no cost. We don’t have to earn it or save up for it.
We’re all partakers of God’s grace because we’re all in need of God’s grace. We’re all partakers of God’s grace, because we’re all in need of God’s grace.
We were all sinners saved by grace. The saved part is the part that we live in. Once we’ve been saved by grace, we are no longer sinners. That doesn’t mean we wont sin, it just means we don’t have to live as a sinner. I am so thankful for God’s grace, of which we are all partakers.
…Just as it is right for me to think this of you all because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. Philippians 1:7
I was recently watching an early episode of the Andy Griffeth Show. Opie was just tiny, and he was playing with a beautiful black horse. He kept it tied up just in the front yard by the door. When he described his horse to Barney, Opie had such a detailed description of his horse that Barney couldn’t wait to see it. When Barney went out to look at the horse, he soon learned of Opie’s active imagination. Of course, there was no such horse.
Later that day Opie came to Andy and Barney with an axe he had just received from his new friend, Mr. McBeevee. When asked where he got the axe, Opie gave a detailed description of his new friend and because of the earlier scene, they didn’t believe Opie’s new friend really existed.
Eventually, after a whole episode of funny misunderstandings, Andy decided to talk to Opie about the difference between fact and fiction and tried to make Opie say Mr. McBeevee was just a made-up character in his mind. Opie simply wouldn’t say it because he knew Mr. McBeebee was a real person. As I’m sure you’ve guessed, Andy finally met the real Mr. McBeevee and the whole misunderstanding was solved.
If Andy had just made Opie take him to Mr. McBeebee right away, there would have been no misunderstanding or cause for concern. Instead, they wasted all this time wondering, worrying, concerning themselves with Opie’s so-called, conjured up, fantasy.
The reason the show was funny is because it’s so real to life even all these years later. I think we all are guilty of misunderstandings that could have been solved quickly had we taken the time to simply go straight to the source. In real life, though, it may not be so funny. The longer we wait to get to the heart of the matter, the more misunderstandings, guessing, and assumptions take place, which can eventually lead to hurt.
My regards to Mr. McBeebee, the innocent cause of a big misunderstanding he never knew anything about.
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
It’s February and we have a pond with algae. We always get algae, maybe three times a season and usually not this early. It must be treated in one way or another, or the algae will consume the lake. Sometimes we hope for the wind and rain to handle it, but, when taken root, it becomes stubborn and won’t go away without treatment.
In all the years I’ve taken pictures of the lake, this might be the first picture I took of the algae. After all, why would I want to show or keep a picture of an imperfect lake? Wouldn’t it be better to just wait till the algae is gone?
It takes a lot of work to keep the lake looking beautiful. Every season it takes hours of weed eating and lawn mowing around it. We are thankful for the help we have to take care of it. Sometimes, though, I feel pressure to keep it to some certain level of perfection. Anything that we hold as beautiful takes work and discipline to achieve. Honestly, it would be great if we just went down to enjoy the beauty of the lake without any of the required work. I will say, though, as I looked at the lake with algae in February, it was a beautiful, welcome, site. It meant a glimpse into spring. I felt no pressure. I saw only the beauty, algae and all.
I think in our own lives, we are all a work in progress. We have seasons of “algae” that need treated. Maybe we feel a little pressure to show our best selves at every moment, as if there was never any algae. I’m thankful we have a God who sees our algae and still loves us. In fact, He sees the algae as beautiful because it’s a peak into what is ahead. He loves the before treatment picture and loves the after-treatment picture just as much. Like the lake, though, it’s never finished. As soon as the grass is cut or the algae is treated, it begins to grow again.
God doesn’t need our unsustainable perfection. He loves us so much He died to save us. He wants our time in his word and with church family. He also wants us to use our talents to serve Him, algae and all. Who knows? Maybe we can better help someone because of our times of algae?
Lord, I give you me, algae and all. Use every bit of me however you’d like to your glory.
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
I am a terrible dancer. I have no rhythm. When I was a freshman in high school, I got the part of a dance hall girl in our school play and they realized the best location for me was not with the other dance hall girls, but further back, swaying to the music. I have 2 left feet. I truly don’t even know if I was swaying properly to the rhythm of the music or not. I laughed about it then and I can laugh about it now. The director of the play knew what he was getting when he gave me the part, as my older sister was in the musicals as well and she couldn’t dance either.
Good thing God hasn’t asked me to dance. I’d fail miserably. Come to think of it, God would never ask me to do anything He hasn’t equipped me to do, even swaying in the background. Better yet, even if I don’t feel equipped, if He wants me to do a thing, He will see to it that I become equipped. That’s a comforting thought.
It further dawns on me- even being the world’s worst dancer, if He asked me to dance, his Holy Spirit would take over and make it happen to His glory. Of course, that would take complete and total reliance and faith on my part. Hmmm, maybe that’s exactly what He wants from me…complete and total reliance and faith in Him. I’m not the one doing the dancing, God is.
I’m not the one doing the dancing, God is.
Lord, I need your help. Help me to not just say I have complete and total reliance and faith in you. Help me to live it.
“For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand, Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’ Isaiah 41:13
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9
Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety. Psalms 4:8
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27
8 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, whoa]”>[a] do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1
Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy,
and with my song I praise him. Psalm 28:7
Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
his greatness no one can fathom. Psalm 145:3
Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. Colossians 4:2
He restores my soul
1 Corinthians 15
58 Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord. You know that your work in the Lord is never wasted.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:1-2
Have you ever found yourself with a completely cluttered brain? It can be anything that causes it- stress, pressure, grief, divorce, hurt, anger…. the list is unending. I allowed so much negative junk in my brain over the past month that it caused paralyses of the very things I love most…praise, prayer, and bible reading. It’s a terrible place to be and I want no part of it. It’s like being in the darkest part of a tunnel with no light in sight. There simply isn’t time to allow such clutter and negativity.
When I think about how much time I have wasted over the past month on negative thoughts…I begin to praise. When I have a negative thought of any kind, I begin to praise. What was sparked by hurt spiraled into anger and every negative emotion I have felt over the past few years sat on me like mud. It was dirty, filthy, and dark. It took saying words out loud like.. “I forgive and I’m sorry.” It took total obedience and surrender to God. It took me not caring at all about what anyone, but God thought.
What’s that thing that holds your brain hostage? I would encourage you to start quoting your favorite scripture, sing your favorite praise music at the top of your lungs, and begin counting every blessing you have. I plan on doing this every minute if I must. Anytime a negative thought enters, I want to praise. I don’t want to miss out on all the good because I’m held hostage by all the bad.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:1-2
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 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 His 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. Rise, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand.” Matthew 26:36-46
I think every now and then we all feel a little alone. We are tempted to ask ourselves if there is anyone who really cares what we are going through?
I can’t help but be drawn right back to Jesus as He was praying in Gethsemane. He’s telling his disciples how “full of sorrow” He was in the above passage in Matthew. In Luke, the scripture says He was in anguish and agony. He was in such earnest prayer that an angel came to give Him strength. Can you imagine the human Jesus needing an angel to give him strength? The Father created the angels and now Jesus is lower than them.
The prayer was so powerful that drops of blood sweat were coming from His brow. Jesus, the Savior of the World, was experiencing weakness, anguish, agony, and sorrow. He hadn’t even been betrayed yet. How alone Jesus must have felt when He had to tell the disciples 3 times not to fall asleep.
When you’re going through that thing that no one quite understands, remember The Savior of the World does. When you’re going through hurt, sadness, pain, or rejection or when you feel like you can trust no one, remember, you can trust Jesus. When you’re tempted to feel alone or you wonder if anyone else cares, remember the Savior of the World cares.
His agony goes way beyond Gethsemane. He was lonely, rejected, and humiliated. He was despised, bruised, beaten, and betrayed. Noone could ever understand what He was going through. We can only imagine. He’s not only our Savior, but He’s also our all and all. He went through way worse than anything we could ever imagine and totally gets our pain. I’m reminded of the words to an old chorus…
“Noone understands like Jesus,
when the days seem dark and grim.
Noone is so near, so dear as Jesus,
Cast your every care on Him.”
Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand.” Matthew 26:46