Jesus Felt Overwhelmed Too
Matthew 26:38-39 NIV
"Then he said to them, 'My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.' Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, 'My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will but as you will.'"
Suffering. Distressed. Overwhelmed. Anxious. Depressed. Lonely. We've all been there. We've all felt these things. Sometimes we've even felt them all at the same time. So as Christians, how do we handle these emotions in our everyday lives? Diving into scripture tends to alleviate some of these feelings, but when you are feeling like the roof is about to cave, sometimes the scriptures can seem like just words. It's important to remember when we feel anxious, depressed, alone, overwhelmed, stressed, and suffering, that we're not alone. Jesus felt these things as He was anticipating His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, and because He felt this deep, overwhelming sorrow, He hit his knees and prayed that God would take away His suffering. But what He prays next is the amazing part that I think we should all consider doing as we continue on our walk with Christ, and that was this: "Yet not as I will but as you will." Though He asked God to take away His suffering, He ultimately put it all in God's hand by praying, 'not my will, but thy will be done.'
Friends, suffering wasn't meant to be done in vain. There are seasons in our lives where we must go through the hard things to see the good things. And in order to get through the hard things, we must surrender them to the Lord. So, when we ask God to take away our suffering, let us remember to surrender our tough times to Him because they, too, serve a purpose. When we pray, "not my will but thy will be done," just as Jesus did, we allow Him to grab hold of the steering wheel and navigate us through the suffering unharmed and better than before. Though Jesus suffered and died, through Him came salvation, forgiveness, and eternal life. Always remember that while the struggle is part of life, God always has a plan. And when you feel alone and your struggle seems to overwhelm you, I want you to remember that you're not alone; Jesus felt overwhelmed too.
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