Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”

When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.

Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!” (Matthew 26:36-46).

Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”

While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”

When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear (Luke 22:39-50).

***

Why did the disciples fall asleep, not once but three times knowing full well how distressed Jesus was and knowing how much it meant to Him that they remained awake? Why did Jesus pray the same prayer three times? What temptation is Jesus referring to?

When we are overcome with emotion, it makes us vulnerable to temptation and weakness, unless we cast our cares upon God and ask for His strength. God desires for us to bring our emotions to Him in prayer rather than letting our emotions lead us astray.

Fear can bring lack of faith and birth unbelief. Sorrow can lead to disillusionment, despair, and quitting the race. Anger can lead to revenge, unforgiveness, bitterness, and hate. If we don’t submit to God daily and cast our cares upon Him, our cares can lead us into darkness.

God desires for us to remain connected to Him and trust in Him through all circumstances. “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry” (Ephesians 4:26). Simply put, if we don’t give our anger to God, it can consume us and birth consequences we will probally regret. Instead of praying, Peter grew sleepy with sorrow which led to revenge when he lopped off the soldier’s ear. Then his fear led to denying Jesus three times.

Jesus modeled how to cast our cares upon the Father. When Jesus said, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” He brought His sorrow to the Father in prayer, not once but three times, until an angel appeared to strengthen Him for the grueling events that lay ahead.

In our times of greatest need, we need to keep asking for God’s help. Otherwise we, like Peter, will succumb to our weaknesses which can give birth to sin and regret.

Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it (I Corinthians 12:14-26).

***

I’m a grown up now, but my life has been plagued with this notion that conflict is bad. Conflict must be avoided. If I offer a difference of opinion that brings about conflict, then I am the source of it, and I am bad. Conflict means rejection. Conflict means THE END.

I have grown up in a system that rewards the approval of man: Be liked at all costs, don’t make waves, don’t address what’s broken, keep your mouth shut about anything that challenges the status quo, and for God’s sake, stay silent about your faith.

To succeed in this system means compromise, ambivalence and the life of a chameleon. Fitting in comes at the cost of “being all things to all people,” not to win some for Christ, but for the sake of being liked. I have grown up in a system that says, “You don’t belong to the body unless you are the same as the other parts.”

Yes, I want to be liked, but what do I do when my convictions are burning me alive? I can’t stay silent. I can’t not speak. But speaking brings the risk of conflict, no matter how gently, carefully, and diplomatically I articulate my thoughts. So I have retreated into a lonely life of isolation and independence while pursuing this quest to find my place in the body.

Maybe I need a new paradigm. What if conflict is to be expected, maybe even embraced? What if conflict is no longer the end, but the beginning to a greater end?

What if persevering through conflict means unifying diversity for a greater whole even if we don’t agree on every matter? What if conflict brings about community instead of division? What if conflict stretches, shapes, and grows me and each individual as it unifies diversity to bring about a greater whole?

We still might not agree on every point, and it might be a bumpy ride, but in the end, we could leverage what works for the whole by incorporating the best of all parts.

“The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.

Those who know your name will trust in you,
for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you”
(Psalm 9:9-10).

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise”
(Psalm 51:17).

“A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out,
till he leads justice to victory.
In his name the nations will put their hope”
(Isaiah 42:3/Matthew 12:20).

***

A week ago, Haiti, the poorest of all nations, was hit with a devastating earthquake. It is feared that as many as 200,000 have perished. Young, old, black, white, educated, uneducated, spiritual, unspiritual. No one was immune.

I see the pictures, but I can’t hear the cries. I watch the videos but can’t smell the death. It is unimaginable desperation.

The people had nothing, and now they have even more nothing. So destitute, people are robbing dead bodies.

No one is safe from the aftershocks, there is nowhere to hide. Even the best-built structure in Port-au-Prince, the nation’s capital, was leveled.

O God have mercy on the people of Haiti. Bless those who are on the front lines to help bring food, water, medical treatment, and aid to those who need it most. May all find their hope in You, “a refuge for the oppressed, and a stronghold in times of trouble.”

“From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger” (Psalm 8:2).

***

After completing a college editing class, I stumbled upon this verse. I became intrigued with its sentence structure. Just how does praise work to silence the enemy?

I asked God for some insight. You see, for much of my Christian life, I have held the belief that as long as I stay close to Jesus, the enemy won’t come near me. But when the enemy prevailed, I would wonder what is wrong with my faith. I figure that I must not have enough it.

Perhaps my understanding has been in error as this verse speaks liberating truth.

God’s Word reminds me that the enemy harassed Jesus, but Jesus kept his eyes fixed on the Father. This is what silenced the enemy. It didn’t make the enemy go away, it dissolved the enemy’s power to take Him down.

So often in my life, when the enemy has attacked through circumstances, the critical words of others, the intended or unintended harm others have caused, my eyes had become fixed on the evil that the enemy was doing. I would complain about the unfairness and the cruelty, and it would lead me into a tail-spin of despair.

Well, evil is evil. That’s what evil does best. So why should I expect anything else?

Jesus said, “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

He also said, “Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also” (John 15:20).

So, in the midst of an attack, whether through circumstances or people, I need to remember to keep my eyes fixed on the author of life, love, peace, and joy. And remember that He has overcome the world, and it is His presence in the midst of it which silences the enemy.

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

“No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin” (John 8:1-8).

***

After reading this passage, it occurred to me that “who we are” and “what we do” are not the same. If we are our sin, why does Jesus declare us to leave it? What kind of a loving God would create us to be the very thing he detests?

God does not create us to be sin. We are all descendents of Adam and Eve; we are all born into sin. Jesus Christ makes it possible to leave sin and live at peace with God.