Father, Your Will be done

Have you ever entered a phase of your life you did not want to be in? Are you about to enter a phase of your life you don't want to be in? These times in life are challenging and they will often times push you to your limits. Today you will learn how to react in times of pressure as a christian and a child of God. You will see how Jesus reacted in a time that he was under intense pressure and depression even to the point of death. That’s right. Jesus was in a depression that made him feel like dying. Turn with me to Matthew 26:36-42. In this passage you will see three aspects of Jesus decision making that you will need to apply to your life and in doing so you will find success through pain and hard times. First you will see the Pain in sorrow, second you will see the Puniness of the flesh, and the Passion of the Father.

The Pain in Sorrow

Sorrow;

a feeling of deep distress caused by loss, disappointment, or other misfortune suffered by oneself or others

Sorrow draws a lot of pain. It brings you to your knees. What has sorrow done to you? In this passage we find the Son of God, The one with the power to command angels in deep sorrow. Read what it said.

Matthew 26:36–38 ESV

36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” 37 And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.”

Have you ever felt this type of pain? What do you do with it? How do you handle it? This morning I want you to know that the pain and sorrow are a part of life. I know you were looking for me to tell you that there is a way out of pain and sorrow but I am going to tell you this morning not how to get out of it but how to prepare for it. Jesus was in a place of understanding what he was fixing to go through and it pained him to the point of feeling like he wanted to die. Are you in a place like that? Have you been in a place like that? The pain you are feeling or have felt it is real and it is OK. It is OK to feel like you want to die and to feel that pain. The common belief in the christian community is that you always need to be OK. You must always let others know that you are OK. I am telling you right now it is OK to not be OK. It is OK to not love where your life is, it is OK not to want to do what God is calling you to do. You must learn to be truthful. The world needs Christians to be truthful with the fact that life is not always OK. The christian world often times sets people up for failure. You bring someone in to the church and you help them with a struggle and they begin to come. They learn to tell everyone that its all OK. They learn to put on a brave face, because people need to know that our faith is in God and He makes everything OK all the time. The church must learn to be truthful and tell the world that sometimes we are not OK. The death of a child, the loss of financial security, a divorce, whatever your struggle is, it is OK not to be OK! How can you know that it is OK not to be OK? Look to the scripture.

Psalm 34:18 ESV

18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

Revelation 21:4 ESV

4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

John 11:33–35 ESV

33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 34 And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept.

Sorrow and Pain are normal feelings and are normal for even Christians to feel. Jesus felt sorrow and you will feel sorrow. Your sorrow will lead you to one of two responses and it is important for you to understand how you need to respond. In order for you to understand how you need to respond it is important to understand what the tendency of the flesh is.

The Puniness of the Flesh

Your flesh is weak and it wants to continue living as if God does not exist. When you are faced with struggles and trials you want to turn back to the old way of living. Every Christian must understand the puniness of their flesh. Failure to realize what your flesh will do causes sin relapse. Sin relapse is when a Christian reverts back to behaviors that they utilized to cope with sorrow, pain, or other stresses of life. Jesus had one distinctive benefit in that he never sinned, he however was not exempt from the weakness of the flesh in its desire to go against the will of God. What did Jesus say?

Matthew 26:39–41 ESV

39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” 40 And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Jesus in this scripture was making a statement to Peter that while his spirit was willing to do the Fathers will, His flesh wanted to go against it. Jesus spent His time asking the Father for any other option. Jesus understood what His flesh would try to do and because of this He was able to react.

an old Scottish woman who went from home to home across the countryside selling thread, buttons, and shoestrings. When she came to an unmarked crossroad, she would toss a stick into the air and go in the direction the stick pointed when it landed.

One day, however, she was seen tossing the stick up several times. "Why do you toss the stick more than once?" someone asked. "Because," replied the woman, "it keeps pointing to the left, and I want to take the road on the right." She then dutifully kept throwing the stick into the air until it pointed the way she wanted to go!

Jesus understood how His flesh would respond but He also knew how to differ between His flesh and God’s will. Jesus spent the time to go to the Father, to bend His knees, and to seek the Passion of the Father.

The Passion of the Father

The Passion of the Father is to show the World His Love for them. The Passion of the Father is that every one of His children will shout to the world that He is deserving of their love. Through Sorrow and Pain, through Joy and comfort, God’s desire is we would shout His name! Jesus understood the Passion of the Father. While Jesus wanted another way, He was going to do what the Father wanted.

Matthew 26:42–46 ESV

42 Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”

Jesus did not want to die on a cross, His desire to follow the Passion of the Father exceeded His will to do what He wanted. Where are you in your life today? You are in a place where you are feeling deep sorrow about where your life is and what you are going through, your flesh wants to turn to old ways and to go back to doing it’s own thing. Your spirit desires to follow God and do the will of God. Which one of these is going to win? You now know what your flesh wants, you now know what God’s passion and desire is. Now it is up to you to choose which one you will follow. Pain and sorrow are normal and it is OK not to be OK. You will desire to go back to your old ways, but in light of what God has done for you and what He wants to do through you, are you willing to go through pain to see God’s will done? Are you willing to let others know that you are not OK but that God’s will, will in fact lead to Joy in your life? Are you willing to let God use you when His voice is calling you into a phase of pain and sorrow?

A golfer approached the first tee, a hazardous hole with a green surrounded by water, he debated if he should use his new golf ball. Deciding that the hole was too treacherous, he pulled out an old ball and placed it on the tee. Just then he heard a voice from above say loudly: "Use the new ball!" Frightened, he replaced the old ball with the new one and approached the tee.

Now the voice from above shouted: "Take a practice swing!"  With this, the golfer stepped backward and took a swing.  Feeling more confident, he approached the tee when the voice again rang out:  "Use the old ball!"

The will of God, nothing more, nothing less.