Mark 14:41-42 “And he came the third time and said to them, ‘Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.’”
Do you worry? Does anxiety, or regret, or fear haunt your sleep. Do they rob you of confidence and peace? It’s been my experience that this is always the case with every Christian, to one degree or another. God has, indeed, written eternity upon our hearts, but not in a way that we can – being mere mortals – know the specifics of what’s coming. Many seek out horoscopes and palm readers to lay hold of the future; Christians lay their trembling hands upon the Bible and trust in the Lord. We don’t know all things but we know the Lord who knows all things. Even still, we often get smacked around by daily life. We lose our focus just like the disciples did…sleeping when we should be praying.
We take solace in two things, though.
First, we see that the disciples, despite having our Lord with them, able to touch Him and speak with Him, were still unable to discern the moments. Life’s tumult still took them by surprise and, like us, they fretted and worried that circumstances would turn against them at any instant. Remember them in the boat, rocked by the tempest, taking on water in that black night, and how they feared for their lives. Aren’t they like us? Don’t we succumb to dread in our life’s storms too? But they went to get Jesus and so should we. The storm took them by surprise precisely because they expected all to be well all the time and this isn’t a logical – or Biblical – expectation. We share this irrational expectation.
It’s terrible because it sets us on edge and assures that we’re always off-guard when trouble comes. Weren’t the disciples sleeping instead of staying on guard that night in the garden? And isn’t our own flesh constantly dragging down our spirit too? The Bible never promises Christians an absence of trouble. Where does this stupid notion come from but from the devil and the flesh? Yes, all things will work together for our good but this isn’t to say that all things will be comfortable. Evil days and unhappy events will at different times catch us. But, still, God promises that we’ll never be broken by them.
So, we struggle with worries and anxieties just as the disciples did and they lived with Jesus for three earthly years. The truth is that it simply isn’t given to us to know times and seasons and we should altogether stop trying! We don’t know, nor will we ever, every minor detail. Potholes and heavy traffic on our route won’t told to us always in advance. But that’s not the point. Foreknowledge of events – personal, social, and political – aren’t the point. That’s a humanistic Christianity and not the true faith. True faith is simply following Him and casting our whole lives upon Him. If they (the disciples) didn’t know all the details, we won’t know either. The math is simple.
This isn’t to say, incidentally, that we should continue in sin and then bemoan the consequences. I know a man whose marriage fell apart. It was sudden and a shock to him. In his misery, he didn’t go to work for weeks and was, rather obviously, fired. We’re not talking about being neglectful, sinful, lazy, and that nature of thing. Training in personal faith, our discipleship, reading the word, prayer, fellowship, our battles against sin and the flesh…these should be our primary daily focus rather than politics and the stuff “out there.” Let’s not live in reverse. Let’s not fall victim to watching too closely for things we don’t control while letting fall into disrepair those things in our power. So, yeah…read the news, but don’t obsess about the seasons and times. Go do the dishes instead. Or study the Word. Or take a walk. Or, yes, pray.
Focus is the key. Focus on Him.
This brings us to our second joyous consideration: Jesus was not surprised. Look at Him in the garden. He says, “see, my betrayer is at hand.” He isn’t blindsided by the events. What can calm our souls, quiet our fears, and extinguish the fires of worry more surely than knowing and trusting God’s sovereignty? Jesus is unlike any you will ever know. Not once do we see Him shaken by life’s events. He knows fully well the path at every step and is prepared to meet every situation. This is the antidote to the overly emotional Christian who swings to and fro; Christ knows all, is above all, and is never off His glorious throne. When a storm arises out of the dark you have Him to run to and you know, like Jesus in the garden, that whatever God chooses for you will be ultimately good.
Though He might slay us, still we praise and trust Him. This is faith. This is true peace. And we know that our circumstances, though they might batter us for the moment, have met their match in the Lord. Though we might lose all here and now, we revel in the knowledge that Christ went willingly to the cross and triumphed over it. He didn’t go against His will for none could have prevailed against Him. No, He went for the joy set before Him – so that He might be the firstborn among all who believe and put their trust in Him. That He was raised from the dead should forever quiet us in moments of pain, rejection, and fear. God hasn’t momentarily taken a coffee break and lost track of us. He doesn’t need a Plan B because His plan is never frustrated no matter how it looks to us.
And, still, look again at this sequence of events. Jesus is bold even in the face of his betrayer, and pending execution, because He’s been in prayer and taken His petitions to the Father. If we’re ever to find true solace, then we must be praying. And we must know the Word. If we pray but don’t know His Word then we pray in blindness to a God we don’t know. Remember: the disciples ran to Him when they were scared and we should run to the Scriptures. There’s a great mistake we ought to steer clear of and that’s seeking the blessings of the Lord but not the Lord. Indeed, the Lord is our portion; knowing and following Him is blessedness. Too often, though, we end up relying on things and experiences rather than God. In such cases hardships are sure to abound since He disciplines those He loves and hardship is meant in many cases to wean the Christian off reliance on the world. Like a man going through the agony of withdrawal from an addiction is a Christian sometimes. He weans His children off their addictions to the world. He breaks our sinful habits of pride and idolatry so that we might draw closer and closer to His perfect heart. He must and will because He loves us and didn’t die in vain. The goal of life is to know and worship Him. Comfort is nice, but certainly not at the expense of keeping sin in our lives.
Thus, the man or woman of the Lord rests assured in the storms; they can say, “my heart isn’t troubled or afraid.” And this isn’t our own doing. It’s not our power. It’s not human grit or exertion, but simple and beautiful faith in the Lord. We’ll have no rest and no peace until and unless we have Him and His life-giving word.
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