Gethsemane

[Miss Shelby]

In golden youth when seems the earth,

A summer-land of singing mirth,

When souls are glad and hearts are light,

And not a shadow lurks in sight,

We do not know it, but there lies,

Somewhere veiled under evening skies,

A garden which we all must see--

The Garden of Gethsemane.

 

With joyous steps we go our ways,

Love lends a halo to our days;

Light sorrows sail like clouds afar,

We laugh and say how glad we are.

We hurry on; and hurrying, go

Close to the borderland of woe;

That waits for you and waits for me

Forever waits Gethsemane.

 

All those who journey soon or late,

Must pass within the garden's gate;

Must kneel alone in darkness there,

And battle with some fierce dispair.

God pity those who cannot say,

"Not mine, but Thine," who only pray,

"Let this cup pass,"  and cannot see

The purpose in Gethsemane.

 

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

 

Michelle

 

[AngelAmidala]

I really like that!

 

[simplicity]

It's a very thought-provoking poem, Michelle. It's very somber, actually.

Is this the orchard outside of Jerusalem where The Lord prayed the night before He died and was arrested?

 

[Miss Shelby]

Yes it is, Simplicity. But more than that the poem offers hope to the believer... because Jesus didn't want to suffer for the sins of humanity... but He did because it was the will of the Father.

In my prayer journal sometime between 9/5 abd 9/16 I wrote:

The paradox of Christian life is that in surrender we find victory, in our yielding we are made strong , in our rendering up our sword to Him we are made conqureors.

This was from a book called Portraits of Perserverence.

I found incredible solace in these words.

Michelle

 

[simplicity]

It's hard to yield the sword sometimes. I've often felt under attack. Extending the metaphor just a bit, sometimes I can see myself sharpening that sword.

But the Lord's example is certainly one of self-sacrifice. I'm slowly learning just to let it all go. I'm becoming much happier for it, too. Despite my namesake, it's hard to have blind faith and complete commitment.

 

[Amatire]

Wow amazing poem. I really needed to hear that, too often at the moment I am just asking for it all to go away and not saying, "What you want not what I want". Interesting isnt it that Jesus wasnt comforted in the garden until after he had said that, almost as if until then God could not reach him. So in the middle of a trial when you are feeling far from God, perhaps the answer is to say that with all your heart and then you will find comfort.

Recently I ended up having to surrender everything to God because I was totally out of control of my own circomstances. Everything was taken away. finances, family, friends. heath - both physical and emotional. and in the end I had to say "I give up, God, you handle it. whatever you want to do, its ok by me." and I felt like I was falling, and it was very scary for a while. Then I hit rock bottom. only to find that the rock was Christ and there was nowhere else to fall.

From that moment on, I was freed from fear and anxiety. There was a great security in giving up all control, all responsibilty because I knew I could trust him. so I felt safe. Since then I have tried to climb back up again, take things into my own hands and try and recover. only to find the stress and the fear and the distance from God increasing. Eventually I will learn that it is better to just lie back on his strength and let him lift me up in his own time... rather than trying to climb myself and ending up on unstable ground.

Rock is always better than sand. Dependance on anything other than God just leads to instibilty.

Am xx

 

[Amatire]

Wow amazing poem. I really needed to hear that, too often at the moment I am just asking for it all to go away and not saying, "What you want not what I want". Interesting isnt it that Jesus wasnt comforted in the garden until after he had said that, almost as if until then God could not reach him. So in the middle of a trial when you are feeling far from God, perhaps the answer is to say that with all your heart and then you will find comfort.

Recently I ended up having to surrender everything to God because I was totally out of control of my own circomstances. Everything was taken away. finances, family, friends. heath - both physical and emotional. and in the end I had to say "I give up, God, you handle it. whatever you want to do, its ok by me." and I felt like I was falling, and it was very scary for a while. Then I hit rock bottom. only to find that the rock was Christ and there was nowhere else to fall.

From that moment on, I was freed from fear and anxiety. There was a great security in giving up all control, all responsibilty because I knew I could trust him. so I felt safe. Since then I have tried to climb back up again, take things into my own hands and try and recover. only to find the stress and the fear and the distance from God increasing. Eventually I will learn that it is better to just lie back on his strength and let him lift me up in his own time... rather than trying to climb myself and ending up on unstable ground.

Rock is always better than sand. Dependance on anything other than God just leads to instibilty.

Am xx

 

[simplicity]

Yes, I've felt that rock bottom myself. I remember once, honestly without a dollar on me, I thought I might try begging. I was driving home from school. No more credit. No more cash. And according to the guage on my rusty old Buick, no more gasoline! I just kept hoping I had enough momentum to get into the driveway. I decided rather than begging, I would simply starve to death. Because God knew full well why I had done what I did. I used up my resources - all of my savings - trying to make the world a better place. And if my reward is to starve, then starve I would to the Glory of Almighty God.

Ha-ha, I got into the house and found a cheque in my mail for $840 dollars. A last-minute student grant from the Province! I bought some groceries. I graduated on the Dean's Honour Roll. I immediately had an employment contract after I graduated! But, you know, life could have been very different for me. I was pretty much a goner that afternoon I drove home.