What Will You Do In Your Toughest Hour?

Going a little farther, He fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him.  “Abba, Father,” Jesus said, “everything is possible for you.  Take this cup from me.  Yet not what I will, but what you will.” Mark 14:35-36

Easter Sunday, what does it mean to you?  Before you read on, take a moment and reflect……

A very sobering thought that each of us must embrace, to have a resurrection you must first have a death.  The victory on Sunday was preceded by a death on Friday.  As terrible and horrific as the crucifixion was, come with me and lets visit the garden, the place where Jesus made His all important decision to die for you!

Gethsemane, it was a garden in the midst of the olive trees.  Oh, if only those trees could talk today.  What a story they could tell, about a man on his knees, talking with his Father on heaven’s throne.  This hour was no surprise for God and His Son.  It was decision time and Jesus knew it.  The magnitude of the moment would impact the world for all eternity.  The true test of any character is what we do when we face our toughest hour.  Jesus the master teacher taught us a very valuable lesson in the darkness of that night.  We too will face difficult and dark times, none of course to the degree that Jesus did.  Our challenge is how will we respond in the midst of our toughest test?

You can tell this isn’t the first time the Father and Son have talked.  Jesus spoke because He knew His Father was listening.  God’s redeeming work was about to unfold, the Lamb was checking with the Shepherd one last time to see if they could make one final adjustment, “Father, take this cup from me……please!”  We’re not sure exactly how God may have answered His Son, but one thing we do know, Jesus got the answer.  NO!

Because the Father said no and the Son said yes, you have been given a gift.  You have been invited to join with God to accomplish His will on earth.  Will it be easy?  No way!  Will there be days of sacrifice and uncertainty, you bet!  Could you lose your life for the cause, absolutely!  So if you’re up for the challenge, may I point you back to the garden so that you may learn a lesson from the teacher Himself.

Humility; it starts on your knees, it worked for Jesus, it will work for you.  Prayer; Jesus spoke to the Father, so can you.  Honesty; He wasn’t afraid to say what He felt, neither should you.  Surrender; He wanted God’s will, I hope you do too.

We learned a lot about Jesus in the garden, we saw even more from Him on the cross.  It didn’t end on that dark Friday, it just led to that amazing Sunday.  Just for the record, there is an empty tomb in Jerusalem!  Nothing could contain the will of God from being done through the life of Jesus!

Just in case you are facing a tough hour in your garden, take His hand and let Him walk you through it, He knows the way….. because HE has been there before!