Quit Daydreaming: How to Wake Up & Break Free (Part 3)Sample

The Garden of Gethsemane

The story of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane is one of loneliness, struggle, and pain. After eating the last supper with His disciples, where He informed them of his impending death, Jesus left with Peter, James, and John for the olive mill.

When they arrived, He instructed them to sit while he went to a different area to pray. It was said that Jesus had begun to grow sorrowful and troubled at this time.

Imagine knowing the exact moment you were going to die. Not only that, imagine knowing exactly how you would die, and the amount of pain and suffering you would have to endure before you gave up the ghost.

I don’t know about you, but if I found myself in a situation like that, I probably would have combusted trying to exert all my power and energy thinking of ways to alter my fate.

And who could blame me? After all, I’m only human –and so was Jesus. That is why, although He was all about His Father’s work, there was a point where He still struggled to accept the immense suffering He would have to endure to fulfill His plan for redemption.

The Garden of Gethsemane was an olive grove where the fruit was squashed and crushed to make oil. Biblical scholars say Jesus chose to visit this location because it would be where His fleshly desires would be crushed so He could produce new oil and develop the strength He needed to fulfill the will of His Father.

Waking up and breaking free is not going to be easy. There are going to be many temptations and distractions designed to discourage us, but like Jesus, we have to resist caving into our selfish desires to throw in the towel so that we can press on and persevere.

It is crucial to note Jesus came to the garden feeling sorrowful and distraught. Even as He prayed to His Father, His emotional condition did not get better immediately. Still, He persistently petitioned God with His fervent prayer.

But here’s the main lesson: After praying to God three times, Jesus accepts His fate and instead tells His Father to let His will be done.

Think about it: if He had allowed His emotions to persuade Him not to lay down His life, the entire world would have been doomed.

While nothing we do can ever compare to Christ’s sacrificial atonement, when we choose to process the pain behind our loneliness instead of blocking it out through dissociation or gross self-absorption, the lessons we learn will be used to build our character.

Don't get me wrong, life is tough, and humanly speaking, a lot of us have valid reasons to write off the rest of the world and stay stuck in our heads. Still, avoidance isn't freedom; it's just denial, suppression, and bondage.

The good news is when we go through our trials with God, He never wastes our excruciating experiences. Instead, He uses our most heart-wrenching circumstances to draw us closer to Him. Then, He strengthens us with the skills we need to endure and ultimately come out on top.