Holy Week - Day 4

Today I focused in on this passage:
Matthew 26:36-46 (NLT)
36 Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” 37 He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. 38 He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” 39 He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” 40 Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? 41 Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!” 42 Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open. 44 So he went to pray a third time, saying the same things again. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said, “Go ahead and sleep. Have your rest. But look—the time has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Up, let’s be going. Look, my betrayer is here!”

I don't know about you but that phrase, The spirit is willing, but the body is weak," certainly applies to me. Many times in my spiritual life I know what I should do but I can't seem to make it happen. Over the past three years of my life God has been doing a huge renovation project. It started with some much needed mentorship from my dear friend, Paul Null. Then it crashed into personal crisis about 1.5 years ago, then it became a family crisis with Ethan's surgery in November, and now finally things are starting to get back to normal - if there is such a thing as normal. I say all of that to say this, God has been teaching me that truly, "without Him I can do nothing." Many times we think that without God's help we limit our succes or we limit our ability to accomplish, but the truth is...any accomplishment apart from God is really no accomplishment at all. Here the disciples, Peter, James, and John, were weary and they were simply dependent on their own ability, but that was not and will never be enough. Our only true source of strength is God and Him alone, because we are dealing with our sinful nature which is powerful. In the verses following this passage, we will read how all of the disciples fled away from Jesus. They were afraid and ashamed. When we rely on our own strength (the flesh) we too will find ourselves afraid and ashamed.