Photo by Clem Onohjeghuo
Introduction
I often times stutter when I speak, especially when I am really excited about something or when I speak Taglish (moving back and forth between English and Tagalog). Honestly, it gets annoying, “Th-th-th-this is wh-wh-what it so-so-sounds like (or reads like, in your case).” Eventually, I learned a couple things to help prevent myself from stuttering which helped improve my confidence. On the second day of our mid-year prayer and fasting I realized that we don’t just stutter when we talk, but we also stutter in life. We stutter before we take a leap of faith, before we make a big decision, when we are in a high-pressure situation, or when we are about to expose ourself to criticism. So I want to take this time to look at three (3) biblical characters who stuttered in life, but had three different responses.
Main Text
Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
Matthew 26:36-39
Observations
1. There is a place of testing.
Verse 36 shows us that they were in a place called “Gethsemane” which means “oil press”. You would make olive oil before by going through a back and forth process of rinsing and crushing olives. You would pick an olive from the garden, rinse it clean, then put it in an oil press to be crushed, and the process would repeat itself until you have olive oil. The garden of Gethsemane was a precursor to the crushing that Jesus was about to go through in order to save us from our sins.
What are the areas or seasons of your life where you experienced a great crushing or test? Where is your Gethsemane?
2. Not all who was with Jesus was able to go where He was going.
Our main text shows us how the apostles who accompanied Jesus slowly dwindled until Jesus was the only one left to move forward. Scholars believe this to be an illustration of the tabernacle where the first instance showed the outer court, the second instance showed the inner court, while the final instance where Jesus was alone showed the Holy of Holies, a place where only the high priest was allowed to enter. We also see how Jesus was progressively sharing his feelings the more He went in. There is a group of people with whom you can share your problems with, then within that group a select few with whom you can be more vulnerable with, and finally God, with whom you can “let loose” and be as vulnerable as you want to be.
Is these something that you need to pour out before God? What can you do to have a dialogue with Him?
3. There was hesitation
When Jesus said “if it be possible, let this cup pass from me” was the human side of Jesus saying “I don’t want this,” but he continued with saying, “not as I will, but as you will.” This moment of hesitation, this defining moment of Jesus’ life where the pressure is on and the stakes are high we see Jesus stutter.
What are the seasons and moments in your life when you stuttered? How did you respond?
The Response
At the edge of promise, when the story is reaching its highest point, we find ourselves stuttering. We have a moment of weakness and we find ourselves thinking “can I do this?” And we allow doubt to creep in, but it is our response to that moment that determines our destination. Let’s look at three (3) possible responses:
Give up
When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
Matthew 18:22
A rich young man came up to Jesus asking what good he must do to have eternal life. Jesus tells him to follow the commandments, after Jesus clarified which commandments he needed to keep and the young man boasting about how he was able to keep them, Jesus finally gave him a proposition: sell all you have, give to the poor, and follow Him. It was in this moment that the rich young man stuttered and decided to give up.
What sins do you have the most difficulty giving up? What are the things that stops you from fulfilling your purpose or carrying out your goals?
Take matters into our own hands
Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.
Jonah 1:10
Jonah was called to go to Nineveh, but instead Jonah decided to take matters into his own hands and flee to Tarshish. Which led to them experiencing a storm, Jonah being thrown off of the boat, getting swallowed by a fish, until ultimately doing as the LORD asked him to. Another story where people took matters into their own hands were the people of Israel immediately after being freed from slavery. How their 12-14 days journey, turned into forty years of wandering in the wilderness. Yet in both of these stories, God continued to provide for them.
What areas in your life did you think you knew better than God, but failed in? How did you feel? What did you receive after yielding to God?
Step in faith
And going a little further he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
Matthew 26:39
We end where we began and see that the best response to the most challenging moments in our life is to seek God and step in faith. Sometimes stepping in faith means a step forward, while other times it means to step back.
What moment in your life did God tell you to take a step forward? What happened? What moment did God tell you to take a step back? What happened?
Conclusion
Life is full of challenges, but it is how we respond to these challenges that determines our trajectory. These challenges are places of crushing that allows us to move closer to Jesus. Sometimes these are places where we can get by with the right company, but other times these are silent battles in our mind that we have to face ourselves. However, we must always remember that we are never truly alone and we are never too far gone that God’s hand cannot reach us.
When Jesus was at the garden, He stuttered, but He responded in faith and in submission to the will of God, enduring the pain and the shame which ultimately led to our salvation. How will you respond to your Gethsemane? Will you run? Will take matters into your own hands? Or will you seek God and step in faith.