How can we trust God when we're feeling distressed?

God has a perfect plan for your life.  It’s a plan that will not be thwarted.  In His miraculous providence, He has assured us that He will work out everything for the good of those who love Him.  But admittedly, sometimes it can be hard to remember that comforting truth when we’re distressed or grieving.  And frequently, the people in our lives that we may look to when we’re troubled may let us down.

I’ll never forget a moment of distress I experienced during my second year of college.  Growing up, I had what I considered a “bonus” set of grandparents.  My great-aunt and uncle didn’t have children of their own, but they treated my sisters and me like grandchildren.  We loved them and thought the world of them.

My great-uncle died when I was in sixth grade, but my great-aunt lived for about a decade after his passing.  Toward the end of her life, she wasn’t doing very well.  She kept having strokes and was in the hospital.  I went to visit her, and she was alert but couldn’t speak.  We spent some time together and prayed together, then afterward I drove back to campus.

A few days later, my family contacted me to let me know she passed away.  As you can imagine, I was very sad about it.  I found out in the evening and went back to my dorm to process my emotions and talk about it with one of my friends.  Unfortunately, during the conversation, he literally fell asleep.  I realize that it was evening and he was tired, but my feelings were certainly hurt.  And whether or not you can identify with how I felt in that moment, I’m confident Jesus knows because His disciples fell asleep on Him in a critical and serious moment as well.

And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. 34 And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.” 35 And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36 And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” 37 And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? 38 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  (Mark 14:32-38)

Following the Passover meal, Jesus took His disciples to Gethsemane where there was a garden.  Already, this had been an eventful night for the group.  They had been told that there was a betrayer among them.  They were also told that they were about to scatter and leave Jesus.  Jesus had also repeatedly made it clear to these men that the time was coming when He was going to be arrested and killed before rising from death.  This was a lot of information to process, and I imagine that the heightened emotional state of the disciples, the walking they had just done, and the lateness of the hour contributed to them feeling very tired.

Jesus knew the hour had come for Him to be betrayed, arrested, tortured, and crucified.  The long-promised atonement for the sin of humanity was about to be completed by Him at the cross, but His soul was filled with sorrow at the horrifying thought of what He was about to experience.

When you’re troubled by something, it’s certainly helpful to be surrounded by some trusted friends or family members, so Jesus asked these men to watch and pray while He spent some time alone with God the Father.  We’re told that Jesus took Peter, James, and John deeper into the garden with Him then walked a distance beyond them where He could engage the Father in heartfelt prayer.

I can only imagine how heavy Christ’s heart must have been at the time.  To accomplish the redemption of humanity, Jesus who is God the Son, was directed by God the Father to take on flesh, live among sinful people without sinning, then die a brutal and torturous death.  Jesus was completely willing to do this, yet in His humanity, asked the Father if there might be some other way for this atoning work to be accomplished.

This passage has often puzzled people, particularly those who understand that Jesus is one with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.  One God in three persons.  They wonder why Jesus expressed emotion or even asked if there might be an alternative to His suffering.  But what we sometimes forget is that part of Jesus’ mission was to experience all aspects of life from the human perspective.  He has always been God, but in His incarnation, became human and temporarily limited the independent use of His divine attributes such as omniscience.  

Yet even in this very human moment, Jesus demonstrated perfect trust in the Father when He said, “Yet not what I will, but what you will.”  As has been the case from eternity past, God the Father directs, God the Son carries out the directions, and God the Holy Spirit empowers the work to be done.  We see that very thing carried out in the words and works of Jesus as He prepared to experience death.

But while Jesus was agonizing over the brutal reality of His situation, His closest followers, Peter, James, and John, were sleeping.  In fact, they kept falling asleep, over and over, even as Jesus made a point to wake them up.

And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. 40 And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him. 41 And he came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”  (Mark 14:39-42)

I have often heard it said that some people in this world fight when they’re facing adversity.  Others flee.  Still, others may tend to freeze in place due to the overwhelming presence of their fear.  Which posture do you tend to take when a challenge or something genuinely threatening is presenting itself before you?  Do you fight?  Do you flee?  Do you freeze?  I find it interesting to see what Jesus did.  Knowing that His betrayer was on the way to the garden with a group of men carrying swords and clubs, Jesus didn’t hide.  He walked right toward those who sought to harm Him.  He wasn’t paralyzed by fear.  Jesus trusted the Father’s will and walked in the power of the Spirit directly toward those who wanted to take His life.

And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. 44 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under guard.” 45 And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, “Rabbi!” And he kissed him. 46 And they laid hands on him and seized him.  (Mark 14:43-46)

I don’t know if Judas felt powerful and tough as he led this crowd toward Jesus, but I’m guessing he was probably feeling on the top of his game at the moment.  He craved power and influence.  He was blinded by pride, and Satan had entered his heart to betray Jesus, so Judas certainly wasn’t functioning with a tender conscience.  In fact, his heart was so hardened toward Christ that he was fully able to greet Jesus with a kiss which in that culture would have been considered a respectful greeting.  Yet Judas wasn’t demonstrating respect at all.  He wanted to see Jesus seized and taken away.

What would you have done if you were Peter, James, John, or one of the other disciples who was seeing this take place under the cover of darkness?  Would you have tried to expose this treachery to the light?  Would you have fought the crowd and attempted to make their efforts to seize Jesus difficult?

But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. 48 And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? 49 Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled.” 50 And they all left him and fled.  (Mark 14:47-50)

We don’t know all the details of what the other disciples did, but we do know that Peter attempted to take action.  Scripture tells us in the other gospel accounts that it was Peter who took a sword and cut off the ear of a man named Malchus, the servant of the high priest.  I personally believe Peter wasn’t aiming to cut off Malchus’ ear, but rather intended to cut his head off, yet in God’s mercy Malchus was spared.  We’re even told in Luke 22:51 that Jesus picked up that ear and miraculously healed it while reattaching it to Malchus’ head.

Notice the response Jesus gave this band of brutes.  He didn’t fight them.  He didn’t respond as you might expect someone who was guilty of a crime might respond.  Jesus said that if they wanted to act with integrity, they could have arrested Him while He was publicly teaching in the temple, but instead they chose to treat Him like a common criminal.

Desiring to see the Scriptures about His torture and crucifixion fulfilled, Jesus didn’t resist these men.  His disciples fled, but He let them arrest Him and take Him to the high priest’s home where He would be questioned and accused.  

Please notice one additional detail that Mark shares about this event that isn’t included in the other gospel accounts.  Mark tells us about one more man who was present for these events and something awkward that happened to him in the midst of the commotion.

And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, 52 but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.  (Mark 14:51-52)

It wasn’t just the disciples who fled, but a young man who was present for this arrest fled as well.  Because it was night, he was probably wearing little more than a linen cloth that he slept in, and as he ran away someone grabbed that cloth, causing him to have to run back to his home naked.

Tradition holds that this young man may have been Mark himself.  Some speculate that since it may have been at his home that Jesus and the disciples celebrated the Passover, Mark somehow got word that people were coming for Jesus and he ran to where he knew Jesus was so he could warn Him, then he got caught up in the events and escaped with his life, but without his pajamas.

I don’t know if that’s what happened or not, but I will say that just as Jesus was completely willing to entrust Himself to the Father’s will even while experiencing genuine distress, so too can we.  And the truth of the matter is, just like Mark, we aren’t going to be taking anything with us from this life other than our union with Christ.  There is nothing in this world we’re being called to idolize or hold on to.  

Jesus truly is sufficient to meet our deepest needs.  It’s only through Him that our sin is atoned for, and it’s only through Him that our relationship with the Father is reconciled.  He is worth chasing after even if doing so results in you looking somewhat silly in the process.  Graciously, however, He promises not to leave us naked and out in the cold.  In Christ, we are forever clothed in His righteousness.

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.  (Isaiah 61:10)

© John Stange, 2024