Is Your Spirit Willing, But Your Flesh Weak?

Hardship reveals weakness. Weakness encourages humility. Humility brings forth grace. Give thanks for hardship.                                                                           ~R.C. Sproul Jr.

Jesus and His disciples faced hardship.  The kind that first breeds weakness, then humility, and finally – grace.  We can all learn from their lessons.

I’m reading Matthew, chapter 26.  It’s the time when Jesus tells the disciples that He’s leaving soon.  It’s fascinating to see how even the disciples, the very men who Jesus chose to follow Him, were unable to stay focused in the midst of chaos and confusion.

Even their faith dwindled – the faith of men who watched Jesus perform miracles and heard Him teach Truth!  They, like Peter, were convinced they would not falter in sticking tight to Jesus, their Lord, even in the worst of times.  Peter tells Jesus, “Even though all may fall away (stumble) because of You, I will never fall away.”

And yet, verse 56 says that all the disciples left Jesus and fled when He was being arrested.  Did you read that?!  All of them!  Their fears and their flesh got in the way.

Now for a question.  How often do we feel the same way?  I often feel secure in my faith and that I’m sticking with Jesus, only to see my fears, my flesh, and my stubbornness get in the way.  But I read today that Jesus has the answer.

“Keep watching and praying, that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”           Matthew 26:41

Again, and again, I must realize that I can’t do this alone.  This thing I fear.  This thing that’s confusing.  This act that goes against my feelings or common sense.  Like Christ, I must pray the prayer, “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Thy will be done.”

Let His will be done and let us not grow weary in doing good.  If even the disciples felt lost and alone and forgotten, let us not be fearful.  This too shall pass! 

God has a plan.  A wonderful plan.  But we must be patient to see it to completion.

I pray for His will to be done in my life, in my day.

I pray that I’ll accept it willingly.

Will you pray that also?

Then he began to call down curses on himself and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!”  Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.                                          Matthew 26:74-75