God is in control. Always.
If we’ll believe and remember this, it will transform the way we respond to everything that touches our lives.
Today we picked up where we left off yesterday in Matthew 26.
Starting in verse 36, we see Jesus and the disciples enter the Garden of Gethsemane to pray.
Except the disciples can’t stay awake. Jesus found them sleeping.
Let’s think through this discovery.
God is in control. Always.
Since we’ve already seen how intricately God had orchestrated every event of the week thus far, we can be certain He’s didn’t suddenly become clueless.
Is it then even remotely possible for us to believe Jesus didn’t know the disciples would fall asleep? That he found them asleep and was surprised? Not at all.
If you’re like, me, it makes you stop and wonder what was His purpose. So we look to see what He did after He found them.
He asked a question of Peter — the disciple who’d just boasted he’d never deny Jesus.
First of all, Jesus never asks questions because He needs information. He knows everything. The question was for Peter’s benefit. And the others. And ours.
In His next statement, He gave Peter (and us) the key to standing against temptation. Watch and pray.
Watch and Pray
Be on guard and pray. Our natural selves crumble under intense pressure unless we stay on guard with the truth and pray to the One who is our strength.
God remained in control while the disciples slept. And when Judas arrived with the soldiers to arrest Him.
Some would look at all that was happening to Jesus and say, “Satan was attacking Him.”
So often, when life gets hard, our first thought is to blame everything bad on Satan, because he’s always up to evil.
We know from Scripture that Satan entered Judas, but that’s not why all this happened. It happened because God ordained the events in order to achieve His purposes.
Yes, Satan is active and as evil as ever. He’s eviler than we even imagine. And more active than we realize. But never has he ever pulled one over on God.
The next time you go through struggles, don’t look for Satan. Watch for God, who’s always at work. And pray.
God is in control. Always.
