Crushed Soul
This is a hard season of life here on earth for sure. It’s hard to see people in what appears to be their prime of life struggling and suffering. I’ve had way too many friends that have died of COVID and left families behind to try to carry on. I heard a great quote the other day that said, “Remember, were not in the land of the living going to the land of the dying. We’re in the land of the dying going to the land of the living.” This a powerful truth.
I’m following the journey of Jesus through the lens of Matthew and as Jesus is preparing His disciples for what is about to happen. The human side of Jesus is struggling with this journey through death. Check this out….
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.” (Matthew 26:36-39 NLT)
There is a lot of struggle going on in this moment. Jesus knows what’s coming and is dreading it. I can’t begin to understand what it would be like to know the extent of what is coming. I have a hard time walking through struggles that I didn’t see coming.
I need to remember that the death rate here on earth is 100%. I also need to remember that this is the land of the dying and I’m preparing for the land of the living. The struggle is the unknown. Jesus knew what He was about to walk through. We don’t have an eyewitness account of death and exactly what things are like beyond death from someone we know who just came back. Our faith keeps us focused on the land of the living, but the pain and struggles here on earth sometimes take our attention from that.
I want to walk through this day with my eyes on the land of the living while journeying through the land of the dying. I walk through this life with incredible hope for the life to come. If I keep a proper perspective on this life, my crushed soul is restored with hope.
Pressing On!
Dwayne