I am my own worst enemy. I say mean things to loved ones when I don’t want to, I fall asleep praying, and I hurt friends’ feelings. The fact is, I live in tension every single day knowing what I should do and then doing the exact opposite. You may do the same. I know that Jesus’ disciples did.
I am my own worst enemy. I say mean things to loved ones when I don’t want to, I fall asleep praying, and I hurt friends’ feelings. The fact is, I live in tension every single day knowing what I should do and then doing the exact opposite. You may do the same. I know that Jesus’ disciples did.
When Jesus went into Gethsemane during those last painful hours of his life he asked his friends for help. “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch,” Mark writes in his gospel.
What did the disciples do? They fell asleep when their dear Jesus needed them most. Has a good friend of yours been in pain, asked you for help only to have you let him down? I have.
“Simon,” Jesus said to Peter, “Could you not keep watch for one hour?” We can hear the hurt in his voice when his loved ones failed him. They wanted to stay awake, but they couldn’t. The good news for us is that the story doesn’t end there. Jesus sees their failures and still marches up the hill to Calvary to that horrific cross. Why? Because he wanted to show them a couple of things: that he loved them even when they disappointed him and he was making a way to redeem them from their failures. That’s what I need. When I fail loved ones, I need someone to redeem my failures and help me stop hurtful behavior.