“Then they went to a place called Gethsemane; and Jesus said to His disciples, “Sit down here until I have prayed.”He took Peter and James and John with Him, and He began to be deeply distressed and troubled [extremely anguished at the prospect of what was to come]. And He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved and overwhelmed with sorrow, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch.” After going a little farther, He fell to the ground [distressed by the weight of His spiritual burden] and began to pray that if it were possible [in the Father’s will], the hour [of suffering and death for the sins of mankind] might pass from Him. He was saying, “Abba, Father! All things are possible for You; take this cup [of judgment] away from Me; but not what I will, but what You will.” And He came back and found them sleeping, and He said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Were you unable to keep watch for one hour? Keep [actively] watching and praying so that you do not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” He went away again and prayed, saying the same words.” (Mark 14:32-29 The Amplified Bible)
To provide clarification and justification for the heading above, since it sounds like a breaking news headline, let me justify the title. It was the late 1990’s and we were driving from Indianapolis to the Smokey Mountains for a weeklong, family vacation. Oh, don’t worry! I scheduled it so we would be back by Sunday morning service. While I do not usually like long vacations, I submitted to the idea of taking a week off. My wife, Gloria, had been working hard on her dissertation for her doctorate, involving a lot of long days and nights. She deserved the break. Of course, we took most of the kids with us; all five of the boys. The two girls were involved in cheerleading camps and associated activities. Note that the speed limit was not what it is today and therefore the drive was longer than you can imagine in the present times. So, at one point, I pulled over to let Gloria help me drive. I sat in the passenger seat. I was not a good rider. Just being transparent. When we came to a stretch in the road where the highway was curvy and you could look down from the passenger side and see a steep decline, I kept putting my hands on the steering wheel to make sure we did not go tumbling down the deep terrain. Rightfully so, Gloria looked at me with disdain and pulled over. She did not say a word before she stopped the car and steeped out. The look said it all. She just opened the passenger door and motioned for me to return to the driver’s seat, since I could not keep my hands off the wheel.
There is a lesson behind this true story, my friend. Too many times, on this Christian journey, as passengers on the “vehicle” what has been called the “Gospel Train,” and where we speak the word, “Jesus is my Captain; “ too many times we try to take over the steering will and assume control. My oldest son made it plain as he preached this past Sunday: “There is an expectation that we must let go.” He was not talking about a steering wheel, but the steering will that the Lord should be given unchallenged control as we travel as sojourners through this baren land.
So, my advice to you today is to stay in your place and declare as Jesus did to the Father, “Not my will but They will be done.” Let me remind you, Jesus let the Father stay in charge of the will all the way to Golgotha, apparent by the fact that He was obedient, even to the point of death on the cross. Have a good week and live distinctly and definitely unlike me on my vacation traveling described above. Don’t let the headline be applicable to you! Have a great day! Be blessed!
“And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:8 New King James Version)
Committed to the climb,
Mark L. King