“Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.”
The Storm
Jesus himself names this exact experience, exceeding sorrowful, even unto death, spoken in Gethsemane, genuinely, honestly overwhelmed, worth holding as the deepest possible companionship this book can offer, the Son of God himself naming overwhelm this directly, this honestly, without this disqualifying his own perfect faith.
Notice tarry ye here, and watch with me, a genuine request for companionship in this overwhelm, not resolved alone in stoic isolation, but asking others to actually be present, worth examining against however much your own instinct in genuine overwhelm has been to isolate rather than ask for this same kind of presence.
This is worth holding as the deepest possible answer to whatever shame you may still carry about your own genuine overwhelm. If the Son of God himself named exceeding sorrowful, even unto death, and asked for companionship in it, your own honest naming and asking are not evidence of insufficient faith.
Whatever sorrow currently feels this severe in your own life, receive today Jesus’s own example as the deepest possible permission. Name it, as directly as he did, and ask for companionship, tarry ye here, watch with me, rather than isolating yourself in whatever version of Gethsemane you are currently facing.
Find the Still
- Name your own sorrow as directly as Jesus named his own, without minimizing it further.
- Ask someone today to actually tarry and watch with you, rather than isolating yourself further.
- Receive Jesus’s own example as the deepest possible permission for this kind of honest overwhelm.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, you yourself said, my soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. Let your own honesty give me permission for mine, and let me ask others to watch with me too. Amen.
Carry this today
Even Jesus named overwhelming sorrow directly and asked others to be present in it.