two weeks ago i got to hear a man i respect greatly talk about grieving and learning to do it well. i learned so many new things. and it is oh so timely as there doesn’t seem to be an area of my life where things aren’t drastically changing…with the exception of i still have the same stellar roommate!
we broke down matthew 26 where Jesus goes to the garden of gethsemane before He is arrested. it starts with He took His disciples with Him. then he took three of His closest friends and with them…He BEGAN to be sorrowful and troubled…expressing to them His great anguish.
two things to note. He ‘began’ meaning He made space to that so He didn’t lose it in front of the crowds. and also He invited three of His closest friends to that with Him.
He asked them to stay awake and pray while He went and talked to the Father. so He went and processed with God and came back to them. but what is interesting is that all three times, they were asleep. He voiced His frustration, couldn’t you stay awake for one hour? then went and prayed. after seeing them the second time asleep, he just went back to the Father.
He invited them into this place of grieving with Him and even though He invited, they couldn’t hang and at the end of the day it was just Him and the Father. if you look at luke 22, he adds a little more. describing how Jesus was strengthened by an angel…and being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly.
His friends fell asleep on Him. He was in anguish and even after being strengthened, He was still in anguish, yet He continued to pray. to be strengthened or comforted doesn’t mean the pain is removed. it doesn’t mean solutions are here. it is simply the ability and power to endure. to finish the process because He is working to complete what He started in us.
the process is painful. and He doesn’t promise to make it less painful; but He does promise to sustain me. He promises to walk through the process with me.
