Unshackled Moments ~ December 3 ~ Even Jesus Didn't Do It Alone

Today's Unshackled Moment was previously published as 

Unshackled Moments ~ November 21 ~ Garden Friends.

The spiritual journey we are on was never meant to be walked alone. Truthfully, it can't be. Not well. If we isolate and cut ourselves off from the world and others to pray, meditate, and study we will be unable to serve and show the love of Jesus to others. There may be a short period of time that we may need to get alone with God to refresh, recover, or prepare, but that should not last long. Even Jesus went off by Himself to pray, but with the one exception of the 40 day fast and time of temptation in the desert before His ministry began, that time alone with God was never for more than a night.

And of course Jesus is our example, because He is the only person who has ever carried this fleshly body perfectly through the spiritual journey. He was full of the Spirit and full of compassion and love for others. The two go hand and hand. But even Jesus, the one closest to the Father, the one who never did it or got it wrong, the one who perfectly walked in righteousness didn't try to do it alone.

When His toughest time came, the night at the Garden of Gethsemane, when He had to struggle with what was to come and setting Himself to surrender the will of the flesh to the will of the Father, He didn't go alone. He asked three of His twelve closest friends to support Him, to stay close, to watch and pray. Sure they fell short. They fell asleep. The fought when they should have submitted and ran when they should have stayed, but those things were after He was ready. He had already said, "Not My will but Yours."

The point is He wasn't alone. I am sure they fell asleep praying, like I often do. It's not like Jesus told them to watch and pray, then walked away and they said, "forget that, let's take a nap!" When we are stressed out, afraid, struggling to surrender our will and our life, facing tough times, it is time to go to our garden, somewhere we can be with God without interruption and talk to Him, plead with Him, and stay until we can set ourselves to surrender to His will for the joy that is to come once we endure laying our lives down. But if life has come to that place, where we are walking through the Valley of the Shadow and we are not entirely sure we are going to make it out, we need support.

We need to let a trusted friend or three know what's going on, so they can stay close, even if close only means they know that if we call they need to pick up because it's a spiritual emergency but physically they are miles away. Are garden friends are friend we trust, who will pray and watch and be honest with us if we ask a question and simply listen to us and pray otherwise. It's not about geography. It's a spiritual closeness.

Someone needs to know we are in the garden so that they can be praying for us, even if they fall asleep. They need to watch to make sure we don't get out on a slippery slope where we may slip and fall before we come to the place of not mine will but Yours. No, we can't expect them to be perfectly what we need. They are not God, and we should never expect them to take His place or to never fall short. But even though the disciples failed Jesus and scattered they did not do so, until after the battle was won spiritually. By the time the soldiers came, it was a done deal. Jesus was ready to go to the cross.

There will be times when we need to go to our garden to settle ourselves spiritually and settle the issue of surrender. We need others to know what is happening. Others who will watch and pray. And they will also have times in their own gardens. If someone counts you as one of the special 25% they want close by in their hour of Gethsemane, don't forget that support is so crucial that even Jesus needed it. Watch. Pray. And try not to fall asleep.



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