When I Walk with JESUS
Loving CHRIST
May 28, 2011 - 7:00 a.m. My friend, Lourdes, died Monday after battling cancer for many years. How I miss her so! I miss her smiles, her laughter, her witty remarks, her concerns for others. I miss her peaceful heart in moments such as this. She went through a lot yet her courage remained intact. She opted not to see or talk with anyone during the last weeks of her life. My heart understood why. She did not want anyone to see her hurting which could bring them pain and sorrow. But most of all deep within that in such aloneness she was communing with GOD.
The event in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mount of Olives) is the one that comes to mind at the moment. The LORD JESUS went there to pray alone to GOD, the Father. He was aware of the sufferings He would go through, the hurdles He had to face, the pain He had to bear and the life He had to give. There in the Garden, He offered to GOD His battle. And though He asked if there was any other way the situation could be handled, He willingly accepted that GOD's will be done and not His.
All of us have our own battles to face. They come in varying degrees. At times we can easily tame them yet there are those challenges that are beyond our capacity to tackle. They are those that are so overwhelming and too painful to deal with that they incapacitate us in our will to live. The pain is real and penetrating.
The pages in the Bible talk about JESUS' suffering. There is one particular verse that touches my heart about JESUS' praying earnestly in His agony. Luke22:44 Here is truth unveiled that in our suffering, we, like JESUS, can pray for strength and courage from the Father who loves us so much.
The world's predicaments are like arrows being shot at us. No one is exempted. We will, in one way or the other, be hit. The
LORD JESUS taught us to be ever-learning and accepting of GOD's ways. He showed us that in His obedience, He persevered. And on the third day, just as He promised, He resurrected and lived again.
Our suffering may be so great that we can no longer hold on to the very last ounce of courage within our heart but the truth is there always is a solution; there always is a way out - His name is JESUS, our LORD.
We have learned to put boundaries at times to what we can do or accomplish. Without knowing we, ourselves, have put limitations in our ability to survive. We lost grip of the reality of who we truly are.
We are GOD's children and because we are His we have the strength to topple life's adversities. We possess the power to let go of the hailstorms and the raging waves because we truly have been equipped by the LORD with such strength. He left His HOLY SPIRIT within us to help us go through the times. He provides the strength we need to go through the mazes and the burdening situations. But we have to believe and when we do, we can receive. We have to consciously pray for guidance, for comfort, for clarity, for peace --- all of which are given to us when we ask in faith.
Adversities come, that is the truth. They hone our faith and our dependence on GOD. JESUS praying in the Garden of Gethsemane is a reminder for our dismaying hearts that we can offer all needs and predicaments to GOD. There is truly no battle that He is not without us. He walks with us in convoluted roads and if we allow Him, He will guide and direct our every step to lesser pain and trials in life. Trials are not to be taken as an abandonment from Him but as tools for endurance in our faith and obedience to the ALMIGHTY.
Understanding GOD's way reminds us that He holds all answer to everything. Through life's hurdles, just like our LORD JESUS, we will persevere and be victorious. The LORD showed obedience to the Heavenly Father in all the time He was on earth. The Father guided Him in all spheres of His daily life. Like Him, we can find true direction out of life's agitation by relying on GOD's will. Learning to pray and wait for His decision needs to be our main goal. It may be difficult at times to go through this process, but it does get better.
GOD makes a new morning after every storm.
In JESUS' Unceasing Love
