Hosanna Restoration Church

How often have we been in situations where we just did not know what to say. There is just no explanation for what we have done or said, and we are better off not to even try and explain. The disciples were in this dilemma. Jesus told them that His soul was crushed with grief and He asked them to watch with Him.(Vs 34) Later He warned them to “keep alert and pray, otherwise temptation will overpower you. For though the spirit is willing enough, the body is weak.”(Vs 38) Yet here they were asleep again.

It has become increasingly obvious to me, just how week my flesh is. It seems the closer I draw to the Lord, the weaker I become. The advantage to this is that the weaker I see myself, the more I realize just how much help I need and therefore must rely more on the Helper who Jesus promised He would send.

Why do we find ourselves in those situations, where like the disciples we just do not know what to say? Why do we fall, fail, slide, or whatever we want to call it? Why don’t we watch and pray so that temptation does not have the opportunity to overpower us? Because we fail to depend upon the Holy Spirit. We do not see how weak we really are.

In Mark, Jesus warned them of the weakness of their bodies.(Flesh) In John chapter 20, Jesus breathed on them and told them to receive the Holy Spirit. Earlier He had explained to them that He(the Holy Spirit) was the one that would lead them into all truth. In Luke Chapter 24, Jesus told them that He would send the Holy Spirit and they were to wait until they were filled with His power.

Ideally we could all learn from the experience of the disciples in the garden and immediately place all of our dependence on the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately it does not usually happen that way. Instead we get into situation after situation where we just do not know what to say for our actions. The key then is, “DON’T GIVE UP…GET UP.”

That’s right. Get up and get more determined to rely less on your flesh that is weak, and more the Spirit Who is very, very strong. When we ask, the Holy Spirit indeed comes to us with power. But though we are filled with all power, we still must access it. We have to activate what God has put in us. Just as a car has the power to move, but you have to start it and put it in gear. Or as a computer is filled with information, but you have to access it. So it is that God has filled us with power from on high and we need only to access(rely and depend)on all that God has given us.

The more aware we are of just how much every part of our life is dependent upon the guidance and power of God, the more we will rely on Him. The more we rely on Him, the less often we end up in situations where there is just nothing we can say for our actions. The disciples recovered, and so can we!