Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
Christ spoke the words above to his disciples at Gethsemane. Here we have God as man, standing before his disciples…and he is admitting that he is overwhelmed by what he is asked to face. He is overwhelmed with the prospect of being beaten, ridiculed, and hung from a cross to die. He is fearful, worried, scared. The most powerful man to ever walk the earth is actually overwhelmed?!? What is interesting about this verse is it allows us to look at the Lord with compassion, for we too have experienced moments of being overwhelmed…we can relate. It allows us to see the real human side of Christ…it allows us to see that he too experienced difficulty, sorrow, fear, and worry. He understands what it’s like to be in a place of despair…he understands what it feels like to see no way out, to see the walls closing in around him. He is not a king that simply looks down on his subjects, removed from their trials, unable to relate to what they are going through. When we are going through some kind of difficulty, we often “stiff arm” help or support from others because they aren’t walking in our shoes…they don’t truly know what we are going through because they aren’t going through it themselves. They don’t know what it’s like to be completely sick with fear…overwhelmed with anxiety at what lies ahead. But guess what? Christ does know what it’s like…he’s been there…and he reaches out to each one of us offering to lead us through the battle. We may not avoid the battle…we may still have to endure the scars and bruises…but we won’t go through it alone. We have one guiding us that has been through the battle…a veteran well-versed in hardship, pain, and suffering. He knows how to rise up in the end…how to stand tall after the world has thrown everything at him. What an incredible privilege we have to call out to him in our time of need, trusting that he knows the best path for us to take. May we take the opportunity today to call out to our Savior, requesting his direction, strength, and wisdom as we endure the battles in our lives. To God be the glory!
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