Saturday, June 23, 2018

Jesus Grief & Anxiety

Grief is defined as:
noun
  1. keen mental suffering or distress over affliction or loss; sharp sorrow; painful regret.
  2. a cause or occasion of keen distress or sorrow.
Anxiety is defined as: noun, plural anx·i·e·ties.
  1. distress or uneasiness of mind caused by fear of danger or misfortune:He felt anxiety about the possible loss of his job.
  2. earnest but tense desire; eagerness:He had a keen anxiety to succeed in his work.
  3. Psychiatrya state of apprehension and psychic tension occurring in some forms of mental disorder.
In Matthew Chapter 26 starting in verse 36, we see Jesus going to the olive garden in Gethsemane to pray.
Have you ever noticed what He said in verse 38?

He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

After all of these years of reading or hearing this Scripture read, I never noticed Jesus saying this.
Just to be fair, I am posting the King James Version too: 38 Then saith He unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with Me.”
When we deal with anxiety, it is usually because we know something has happened, or we are afraid something will happen.
In this particular Scripture, Jesus knew that He was going to be beaten and die for our sins.
He was literally struggling with that fact. This was a huge feeling for Him, because He describes it as “grief to the point of death”.
I’m guessing He meant, “I’m so stressed out over this, I just wish I could die so I wouldn’t have to deal with it anymore.”
I don’t know about you… but this REALLY makes me feel good. No, not that Jesus was feeling this way.
BUT… because He was feeling that way, He understands when we do!!!
How huge is that?
Jesus understands anxiety. He understands grief. (Because if you remember, when He went to see His friends Mary and Martha, their brother Lazarus had died, and Jesus cried. He loved Lazarus.)
For years, I have heard people in church tell me that Jesus understands everything I’ve been through because He took it on the cross.
Guess what? He understands everything because He actually DEALT with it Himself!
That’s such a revelation for me!
When someone has experienced something, they are able to help others who struggle with the same thing. There is Scripture about that too. 2 Corinthians 1: 4 & 6 talks about us helping others and comforting them because of the troubles we’ve experienced.
Your Savior, the Creator of the Universe, Jesus KNOWS what anxiety and grief feels like.
GO TO HIM with your’s! He understands and He will help you through it.
When you struggle, get Scripture out and say it out loud.
Here are the first two that came to my mind:
2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”
Philippians 4:6 says, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” Some translations say, “Be anxious for nothing.”
We fight off the negative with God’s Word. Use it like this… over any situation. And be sure to pray! Jesus is there and He KNOWS how you feel.
God bless you today and always!

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