Stay With Me

John 8:25–29 The Message

25 They said to him, “Just who are you anyway?” Jesus said, “What I’ve said from the start. 26 I have so many things to say that concern you, judgments to make that affect you, but if you don’t accept the trustworthiness of the One who commanded my words and acts, none of it matters. That is who you are questioning—not me but the One who sent me.” 27 They still didn’t get it, didn’t realize that he was referring to the Father. 28 So Jesus tried again. “When you raise up the Son of Man, then you will know who I am—that I’m not making this up, but speaking only what the Father taught me. 29 The One who sent me stays with me. He doesn’t abandon me. He sees how much joy I take in pleasing him.”

There is something incredible about the presence of God. I want to talk to you about the power of drawing near to Jesus.

In particularly, I want to talk to you about how the presence of Jesus dispels fear, anxiety, worry, stress and loss.

We have a God who is acquainted with sorrow and suffering (Isaiah 53.3). He understands extreme stress and pressure.

Hebrews 5:1–9 NKJV

1 For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness. 3 Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins. 4 And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was. 5 So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.” 6 As He also says in another place: “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek”; 7 who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, 8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. 9 And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,

Because Jesus knows us—He knows our experience—He opens us a way to life and peace.

So when you are facing stressful work environments, or pumping gas for the commute, or dealing with difficult people, Jesus knows what that feels like.

And instead of being overwhelmed and overcome, He brings peace and power wherever He goes. In His presence we find refuge (Psalm 91.2). In His presence we find rest (Exodus 33.14). We find joy in the presence of God (Acts 2.28).

Not In Our Own Strength

Genesis 2:18 NKJV

18 And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”

God did not design us to manage life alone. We have been created for companionship, friendship, fellowship.

Matthew 26:36–38 NKJV

36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” 37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. 38 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”

In the garden, Jesus was about to face the most difficult moment of His life. Jesus was always our Teacher. The Scriptures are left to us for our teaching and instruction and for our hope (Romans 15.4).

Jesus’ request reveals our great need.

Under the strain of the weight of the will of God, Jesus wanted His friends with Him.

He often withdrew from the crowds and got alone to pray (Luke 5.16). But when He was stressed and in great need, what did He do? He called for His friends.

For me, this is the opposite of what I am naturally inclined to do. I tend to withdraw when I am facing great challenges or stress or pressure. I have to fight the urge to deal with it in my own strength.

Jesus’ request for His friends reveals our need for others.

We were created for God. We were created in His image and likeness. God is forever in fellowship—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

When God saw man alone, He saw something was wrong. He said it was not good for man to be alone. It is not good for you to be alone.

We were designed for fellowship. We were meant to experience the presence of God. And that happens when we are alone with Him, and when He is in our midst with others (Joel 2.27, Matthew 18.20).

What We Need

In Jesus’ request to the disciples that we find His wisdom and His way of managing stress and anxiety as well as sorrow and grief. It is in this moment, He was showing us the way to face the will of God and to overcome resistance to God’s purpose in our lives.

There are three things that we will find significantly helpful in difficult seasons that we can learn from this moment with Jesus.

We Need to Watch

Matthew 26:38 NKJV

Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”

The word that Jesus used for watch means to be awake, or to be vigilant and ready. It means to stay awake and not go to sleep.

What we need is to pay attention to God.

Isaiah 26:3 NKJV

You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.

When you set your focus and attention on God, He will keep you in perfect peace.

When we are with others, focusing our attention on them we connect with them more deeply and more powerfully.

What Jesus wanted was for others who would notice and be with Him to support Him in His distress.

We need to watch, alert and awake, setting our mind and attention on God. This will give us perfect peace. It will sustain us in trouble.

And, we need to do this for others. When other brothers or sisters, or even our broken and fallen neighbors, are struggling they need us to watch with them. To pay attention to them and focus on what they are enduring.

This is what Jesus wanted from the disciples. This is what He needed in His humanity.

We Need to Stay

Matthew 26:38 NKJV

Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”

One of the most important things we can do is just stay with someone. There is something powerful about sitting with and abiding with a person.

Your physical presence, your being there brings comfort and peace.

A big part of Jesus request was “stay here…with Me.”

John 15:4–5 NKJV

4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

There is nothing more life changing than the presence of God. What Jesus wanted, and what He needed, was for His friends to be with Him.

We need the presence of God. We need to abide in Him and spend time with Him.

When we do, His life flows to us. It empowers us and enables us to bear fruit.

We need to abide in God, to stay with Him in His presence.

And like Jesus, we also need to have friends that will stay with us. We need people in our lives who will sit with us and be with us in our times of need.

This is part of why fellowship is so powerful and important. Taking time to be with someone in their moments of need communicates God’s love to them and values them.

When you are struggling, you need the presence of God and others in your life. You need to abide with Him and you need others to stand with you and encourage you.

We Need to Pray

Matthew 26:40–41 NKJV

40 Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

A large part of prayer is communication. It is talking with and listening to. It is the act of sharing your heart with God.

When we face the weakness of our flesh, we need to talk to God. We need to listen for His voice and find strength in His word (Luke 4.4, John 4.34).

Philippians 4:6–7 NKJV

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

When you need grace and help in times of need, pray…talk with God (Hebrews 4.16).

When you are overwhelmed and in need of encouragement, draw near to Him and He will draw near to you (James 4.8).

And not only do we need to pray, we need each other. We gather together with others so that we might encourage one another and stand with one another and bear one another’s burdens in prayer (Hebrews 10.25, James 5.16, Galatians 6.2).

Conclusion

Matthew 1:23 NKJV

“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

The promise of Jesus is a powerful one: He is with us.

God’s presence in our lives changes everything. It transforms our circumstances and brings righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14.17).

If we will learn to watch—setting our focus on God and paying attention to Him and setting our mind on Him, we will find peace.

If we will learn to stay—to sit with Him and abide in Him then we will experience His presence in a life-changing way.

If we will set ourselves to pray—to talk with God and listen to His voice we will find wisdom and knowledge and anxiety will go.

And, if we can do these things for others, like the disciples were should have done for Jesus, then we will be used by God to help bring encouragement, peace, and strength to them. Our relationships will reveal God’s presence.

We need God’s presence in our lives. In the face of difficulty and suffering, only God’s presence will secure us and keep us.

God is with us through His Spirit in us and His people.

Look for Him. Stay with Him. Talk to Him. And find rest for your soul (Matthew 11.29).