Mark 14:38 b. “The spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak.”
I have not written anything for some time. I have been going through one of the most difficult seasons and it has been hard to share anything that I thought was of value. Life can be so hard and ministry most lonely. This is not what most churches want to hear. Sunday after Sunday in our Traditional American Churches there is an expectation of fresh and inspiring words. The truth is the rain falls on the congregation and the preacher without regards. My life has seemed like a deluge; an unrelenting torrent. My words and prayers for direction from the Lord hang on my lips as my ears strain to hear just one word, and I wait.
It is so easy to get paralyzed by a gamut of emotions and thoughts in these seasons of uncertainty. I have most recently felt stuck; like I need to move off the rock I’m on, but I feel stuck. As I pondered this today, the passage in Mark 14 came to mind, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” We try to be strong in the flesh, but the flesh is so weak. Jesus asked a simple task of Peter, James and John; “Remain here and watch.” The simplest tasks are hard to maintain in the flesh. The spirit in us is willing and even in our flesh we may boast, “I can, I will!” But how weak we are.
The flesh, though weak to perform the will of God, is strong enough to place us in bondage. Bondage in the flesh blinds from God’s power to perform His will in us through His Spirit. Jesus response to His disciple was to, “watch and pray.” In other-words, keep your eyes on the Father, ask Him and listen to what He says.
God’s will is not easy. We want God to give us the easy way, the easy answer. To get unstuck from where we are we have to do the Father’s will, even if it is not easy, not what we want to do, scary, hard or unfamiliar.
Jesus had to die to the temptation of His own will before He would fulfill the Father’s will and die on the cross.
Wherever we are not willing to die to our will, we are ready to fulfill the Father’s will. And there we are; stuck.
To get unstuck:
- We must watch: keep your eyes on Jesus.
- We must pray: ask the Father for His will.
- We must die: to our own will (way, thinking, feeling).
- We must obey: do only what the Father says.
- We must believe: the Father will perform His will through our obedience.
Pray for me. With God’s help I’m going to get unstuck and hopefully you will begin to hear from me more often. Write me or comment: I’d love to pray for you.
