The Struggle Can Make You Stronger

Anyway, if you have your Bible, take it on out.

If you need a Bible and you raise your hands, the ushers will get them to you.

Hold it up nice and high.

Let's all make this declaration of our faith all together, ready.

Go.

This is my Bible.

It is my primary source of spiritual nourishment.

I will read it every day and become all that God wants me to be.

My mind will be renewed.

My life will be transformed.

I will become fully surrendered to Christ.

Therefore, I will hide his word in my heart so I can be all God has destined me to be.

Amen.

If you would kindly remain standing in honor of the word of God, my assignment comes from the gospel of Mark, the 14th chapter.

Mark chapter number 14, verse 32, says, Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane.

And he said to his disciples, Sit here while I pray.

And he took Peter, James, and John with him.

And he began to be troubled and deeply distressed.

Then he said to them, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.

Stay here and watch.

He went a little further and he fell on the ground and he prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.

And he said, Abba Father, all things are possible for you.

Take this cup away from me.

Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.

Today we're beginning a new series that leads us up to Easter called From the Garden to the Grave to God.

Amen.

Can you say amen?

And I want to minister to you from the subject.

The struggle can make you stronger.

It can.

It may not, but it can.

And whether it does or it doesn't, it has everything to do with how you surrender to God in the middle of your struggle.

The struggle can make you stronger.

Let's pray.

Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, thank you so much for your word.

I pray right now that it would have free course in the hearts and minds of every person.

Give you all the praise again in Jesus' name.

Amen.

You may be seated.

Have you ever noticed that culture has slogans for everything?

And one of the things that was sung recently that became a big hit was one of those slogans by Kelly Clarkson.

Anybody remember any American Idol fans that are out there?

Y'all dig in this year's group of American Idols.

I'm not, uh I don't like it really.

I love the show.

Anyway, Kelly Clarkson sang the famous uh song, What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger.

And it sounds good and it preaches good and it looks good on a t-shirt.

But here's the truth: it's not always what happens in people's lives.

Sometimes struggles don't make you stronger.

Sometimes struggles make you bitter.

Sometimes struggles make you distant.

Sometimes struggles cause walls to go up in your life.

Sometimes struggles cause you to leave God or separate from God or get mad at God.

And so let me fix the statement for just a minute.

It's not that the struggle will make you stronger, but the struggle can make you stronger, and it depends on what you do with the struggle.

For instance, the reason I was mindlessly scrolling on Instagram.

Anybody ever do that?

Just kind of you get caught up in it.

You have to catch yourself, by the way.

Because you could just sit there.

I love it.

People are, I don't have time to read my Bible.

I don't have time to read my Bible.

I don't have time to read that two hours later, I just don't have time to read my Bible.

Anyway, I was mindlessly scrolling on Instagram and I came across this reel.

And it was this dad walking over a bridge with his five-year-old son.

And it was one of those bridges that kind of crossed over like a swamp area in the forest.

And there was some twine across the bridge.

And so the dad got up to it and he just naturally just stepped right over it.

And he kept walking, and the son was on the other side.

And he just kept walking, but he was walking slow, like this.

He was looking back over his shoulder to see what his son would do.

And his son started crying a little bit.

Daddy, aren't you gonna help me?

And his dad didn't help, he just kept on walking.

And so sure enough, the little boy, I gotta catch up with dad.

He tries to go through the twine.

As he tries to go through the twine, he gets all tangled in the twine.

And so now he's really crying.

So, of course, his dad comes over and his dad untangles him and he picks him up, but instead of putting him on the right side of the twine, he puts him back on the other side of the twine.

And then he walks away again, and he walks away and he's kind of looking like this.

And the little boy's like, I gotta catch up with daddy, I gotta catch up with daddy.

And so this time the little boy was smart.

Instead of trying to walk through it, he picked up a little piece and moved through it, and he picked up a little piece and moved through it.

And finally he got to the other side of the twine, and he ran towards his dad, and of course they celebrated, and it was a great accomplishment.

And I thought to myself, the first thing I thought is, that's not my parenting style.

That's just not me, and that's definitely not my grandparenting style.

By the way, we just had our first grandkid, y'all know, y'all heard.

And so in the Italian culture, they call grandpa no no.

And I said, uh-mm.

I said, I looked at it, I said, My name is not no no, my name is Yes, yes.

Anything you want, that's my that's my name, because my parenting style is if there's twine, I'm cutting it.

Like if there's a struggle, I'm swooping in and just lifting her up.

But I learned something, and I learned that in order for the struggle to make you stronger, you've got to do something with the struggle.

You've got to learn how to overcome the struggle, and that's really what Gethsemane is all about.

The Garden of Gethsemane is not just Jesus struggling for us, although that's the most important part.

It's also Jesus teaching us how to go through a struggle because that's what Gethsemane means.

Gethsemane means the press, and it was an olive press.

It was a place that they would go and they would press olives to make olive oil.

And by the way, when you go through a struggle, if you do it the right way, can I tell you good can come out of it?

Can I tell you God can take all things that were meant to hurt you and turn it around for your good, that there can be good things and greater things that come out of your life?

And that's Gethsemane.

It's this, it's this place of struggle.

And there are some of you that are here and you're struggling.

You're struggling in your marriage, you're struggling in your finances, you're struggling in your career or in your health, or there's relational conflict, maybe there's even spiritual struggles going on in your life.

And here's the question: the question is, what are we going to learn?

How are we going to manage the struggle so that the struggle doesn't distance us from God, so that it doesn't warp us, doesn't reshape us in a negative way, but that it makes us stronger.

And when we come to this place in the Bible, we are entering into one of the most intimate scenes in the Bible.

Mark chapter number four, verse 33 and 34 again says, and he took Peter, James, and John with him.

And he began to be troubled and deeply distressed, and he said to them, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful even unto death.

This is an intimate moment.

This is a surreal moment because we're going into a place where we're watching Jesus suffer a death that nobody has ever suffered or will ever suffer.

It's a death like nothing.

See, you and I will experience death, but Jesus' death was different.

And the reason why Jesus' death was different because he had to drink a cup.

Remember when he praised, Father, if this cup can pass from me.

And this was the cup of the wrath of God.

Both Ezekiel and Isaiah prophesy about this cup.

Ezekiel says it's the cup of ruin, it's the cup of desolation, it's the cup that causes you to beat your fist against your breast in anguish.

Isaiah says it's the cup of God's wrath and the bowl of staggering.

And Jesus is staggering in the garden as he's thinking about the cross before him.

And the reason why is because Jesus understands that there's something different.

He's going to experience the full judicial weight of the wrath of God against him for all the sin and evil and wrongdoing that has ever been done in the world or will ever be done in the world.

And you and I will never know what that feels like because none of us know what the weight of omniscience, of omnipotence feels when it comes upon us.

But Jesus felt it in that moment, and Jesus agonized in that moment, and Jesus did that for you and me.

And when people ask, you know, how do we know God cares?

How do we know God loves?

And I'm like, the cross, the cross is proof.

One person said it like this over the enigma of human suffering, God has stamped the cross of Calvary, and it's God's way of saying, I care, I feel, I know everything that you ever go through in your life.

Thank you, Jesus, for loving us like that.

And when we come to Gethsemane, Jesus is not only suffering, but he's showing us how to grow through suffering.

Not just go through suffering, but grow through suffering.

And he's giving us a masterclass of how you and I can get stronger through the struggle.

And there's three things I want to share with you today.

The first one is simply this people.

The first thing that we see when we enter the Garden of Gethsemane is people.

Mark chapter 14, verse 33 again says, Then they came to a place which is named Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, Sit here while I pray.

Mark 14:33

And he took Peter, James, and John with him.

Don't miss this.

This is Jesus.

This is the Son of God.

This is the Savior of the world.

This is the one that we run to when we're in trouble.

This is the one that the Bible says he's a he's a strong tower.

The righteous run into him and are safe.

This is our ever-present help in time of trouble.

This is our refuge.

This is our rock.

This is the one that we go to.

And in this moment, in his humanity, we see God, the Savior of the world, relying and leaning on people.

This ought to astonish us.

This ought to tell us how amazing Jesus is that in his divinity he chose to act in his humanity so that he could feel what you and I feel.

He is a high priest who can be touched with everything that we go through because he felt everything that we go through.

And he's leaning on his people.

And he's leaning because he understands a principle.

Right from the very beginning of Genesis, Genesis 2 and 18 says it's not good for man to be alone.

In other words, isolation is dangerous.

Isolation makes you vulnerable.

In fact, the clear implication of the fall of man in the garden is that Adam and Eve were separated.

See, because Satan was able to separate them, he was able to tempt one because they didn't have anybody else there to encourage them.

Can I tell you, isolation is dangerous.

You heard me say this before.

When you get uh when you get uh uh depart from the pack, you are susceptible to attack.

Lions don't go after the herd.

Lions go after the one of the herd that has drifted away.

And so even when it comes to a spiritual church family, we always need people who are encouraging us in the things of God, who are reminding us of the things of God, who are there with us, and when we get departed, when we get disjointed, when we get isolated, we become susceptible.

Jesus had his people.

He his people were Peter, James, and John.

These weren't random disciples, they were his inner circle people.

When Jairus' daughter needed to be raised from the dead, he took Peter, James, and John.

On the Mount of Transfiguration, when it was Elijah and Moses and Jesus all transfigured, he took Peter, James, and John.

In both the moments of glory and the moments of agony, they were there.

The right people are not just the people who walk with you through both your victories and your valleys.

They don't just stand there and love you, but they also encourage you to do the right thing, spiritually speaking.

You know, a lot of people think that the right people are just the people who encourage us to be happy.

Can I tell you?

One of the worst parenting things that you can ever do is just encourage your kids to be happy.

It's a horrible parenting move.

Now, do we want our kids to be happy?

Absolutely.

I want my kids to be happy.

Do we like it when our kids are sad?

No.

But happiness is not the height of achievement.

If your kid came home to you and he said, Listen, I just uh feel like I want to be strung out on crack all the time.

And so what I'm asking you to do for me as my mom and dad who really love me, because if you really love me, you want me to be happy, is let me set up a crack meth room in the garage.

And I just want to come home every day with my friends and I just want to shoot up crack.

Are you cool with that, mom?

No, I'm not cool with that.

But it makes me happy.

Okay, go ahead and be happy.

See, we have this funny thing that we are supposed to, you know, go or shoot for happiness.

Can I tell you something though?

When you serve Jesus, there's a joy unspeakable and full of glory, there's a happiness that fills your soul, there's a peace that passes all understanding, no matter what's going on in life.

And so these were people, Peter James, and John, who weren't just there to guess Jesus, they were there to also remind Jesus.

See, their names mean something.

Peter Rock.

That's where the law was written on, in stone tablets.

Peter James, it means replacer or supplanter.

And John, it means grace.

And the reason why Jesus took them with him everywhere that he went was because they reminded him of his mission.

His mission was to fulfill the law so that the grace of God could be extended to you and I.

And so here is this moment in time where Jesus is struggling with the cup before him to finish the destiny and finish the course.

And who does he ask to be with him?

Peter, James, and John.

People that can remind him of the mission.

We need the right people around us.

We need people around us who can remind us God is faithful, who can remind us to stand when we're struggling, who can remind us that his grace is sufficient, who can remind us that it's not the end of the story.

We need people.

Jonathan had David in the Bible, Paul had Timothy, Ruth had Naomi, Mary had Joseph, Batman had Robin, the Lone Ranger had Tonto, Laverne had Shirley.

I mean, I'm dating myself a little bit.

But in the Bible, there are all sorts of people who had people.

Remember Moses in the battle against the Amalekites?

He was up on the hilltop and he was getting weary in the battle, and along came Aaron and Har and they held up his hands.

We need people to hold up our hands in the battle.

We need people, we should have people.

God designed us for people, but listen to me carefully.

You can only lean on people to a place.

Because the very moment Jesus needed these people, they fell asleep.

Not once, not twice, but three times.

Even the best people in your life will not always be there for you when you need them.

Not because they don't love you, but listen, because they are human.

People are human, people have their own struggles, their own situations, their own things that they have to deal with.

They can't give you all their time because they need to spend some time on their own stuff.

And I love how, you know, we kind of have this impression and we think that, you know, we could just lean on each other and never need to do stuff between us and God.

Sort of like, you know, when people and the pregnancy thing is on my mind right now, um, when people say, and you know, men especially, we're pregnant.

And the first time I heard this, I was like, Am I missing something here?

Is something biologically not clicking with me?

What do you exactly mean by we're pregnant?

Because, like, like I see that she's pregnant, and well, maybe maybe you look a little pregnant.

I see that, I see that she's pregnant, but but but we can't be pregnant.

Now, what what I understand what they mean by that is is that we're gonna be parents soon.

That's fine.

But we're pregnant.

My my daughter just gave birth, right?

And we we showed up and we were there and we stood by and we encouraged and we celebrated and we were there.

But when it came time to push, how many of you know we weren't pushing?

How many of you know there was only one person that can push?

And there comes a time in your life where you have to realize you have to push for you, you and God, and so people are great, and we need people, and God wants us to have people, but people should never replace God in our life because people can be there, but only God can sustain you.

People can be there, but only God can strengthen you.

People can be there, but only God can give you the wisdom that you need.

And so we need to learn that ultimately we have to lean on God, we have to lean on Him in those times of trouble.

And we see this in Jesus.

Finally comes out the third time, he sees him sleeping again, and he's not mad this time.

You know what he says?

He says, Sleep on.

He said, The time of my glorification has come.

He said, The time of my departure is at hand.

I must be handed over to be crucified.

In other words, he wasn't saying, You need to do this with me.

Here's what he was saying.

It's time for me to do this myself.

Sometimes it's just you and God.

Sometimes it's just, Father, into your hands do I commit my spirit.

Father, I don't have the support I need, I don't have the people I need, but I got you, God, and you are with me, God.

You're by my side.

You walk with me through the valley, you're there with me on every mountaintop, through every trial, through every high and every low.

God, you are there, you are there in every storm, you're there in every struggle, you're there in every situation.

Father, you can help me to get to the other side.

People.

But the second thing, and here's the reason why it's important, because at some point in your life, you're gonna have to leave the inner circle.

And you're gonna have to venture out a little bit further, like Jesus did.

Fall on your knees and pray.

Pray.

Pray is the second thing we must do if we are gonna get stronger through the struggle.

A lot of times we think that prayer is just this exchange of pleasantries.

Hey God, I just want to say hi.

We love you.

You're a good God, you're wonderful.

Thank you so much for all the good things you did in my life.

That's a wonderful place in prayer.

But that's not all prayer is.

Prayer sometimes is a grind.

Prayer sometimes is a wrestle, prayer sometimes, is warfare.

Prayer is sometimes a place where you are processing everything that you're going through.

Prayer is that place that you go to when you don't have peace, and you want to process through everything that you're going through so that you can have peace.

Prayer is that wrestling place, and this is what we see in the life of Jesus.

He is wrestling, he is wrestling with the process, not the outcome.

Jesus didn't go into the garden going, I wonder how this is gonna end.

He didn't go, Yeah, I know I'm gonna go to the cross and all, but you know, I'm wondering if the cross is kind of it.

He knew resurrection was coming, he knew the empty tomb was coming, he knew the outcome, he had faith in the outcome, but he had to pray through the process.

Because how many of you know it's not that many of you are here today, you have wonderful relationships with God.

You trust God, you believe God, you believe God has your best interests in heart, you believe God's looking out for you, you believe he has a plan for your life to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a hope and a future, but you're going through some stuff right now, and you're having to process through that.

It's what I call the middle stuff.

Middle stuff is always the worst kind of stuff.

I know about you, but I hate middle things.

Middle school.

I mean, when you're in middle school, you can't wait till you get in high school.

In middle school, like, and and kids look their most awkward in middle school.

Right?

Not these kids, of course.

They were always beautiful.

But in middle school, man, you feel like your nose is too big for your face, right?

Your feet are too big for your body, right?

You know, you you have to grow into yourself, and then all of a sudden, once you get through the middle and you get past the middle, now you're in a good place, and now you're feeling yourself.

Middle things are never good.

Middle seats, I hate middle seats on airplanes.

I mean, don't put me in the middle seat, right?

And some people they spill over into your seat, and then if you're in the middle seat, you can't even nudge your way over or anything like that.

And and the reason why I don't like middle seats is because I know if I'm on an N seat, I get at least one armrest.

But if you're on the middle seat, you have to fight for both.

I'm good if I got one, but but and I gotta fight for one.

At least I know the worst I could do is one.

But are you in the middle seat, especially if you're late going to the middle seat?

Because you know, if you're smart when you get into your airplane seat, you just put your hands on the armrest right away.

You just claim you'd be like, these are mine, right here.

And then here comes the middle seat person, and they're like, All right, I can I have an armrest, please, right?

Middle things.

The crazy thing about middle things, the craziest thing.

Times square on New Year's Eve, in the middle of that crowd, you have to wear a diaper.

It's a thing, y'all.

I couldn't believe this.

It's a thing.

We're going to watch the ball drop.

Did you bring your diapers?

What I'm out.

Like as soon as we're talking about me wearing a diaper, I'm out.

I'm not going in the middle of a crowd to pee myself and stand there to watch a ball drop that I've seen happen a million times in my life.

It's just not happening.

Oh, we had the best time.

We only pee ourselves three times that particular night.

Middle things.

They're crazy.

Nobody likes these middle things.

And when we're going through a struggle, we hate that middle time.

It's that processing time.

And that's what prayer is.

It helps you to process through these middle seasons in your life.

And here's why it makes you stronger because firstly, prayer gives us the power to kill our will.

The most famous line in the text about the Garden of Gethsemane story is not my will but yours be done.

And here's what it means: our spirit's willing, but our flesh is weak.

I don't think too many people set out and just say, I'm gonna disobey God.

Especially if you have any type of relationship with God.

And if you don't even think about that, then you need to have a relationship with God.

I don't think too many people go, I'm just gonna disobey God.

But here's what happens: your flesh and your spirit start getting into a battle against one another.

And the flesh, that little rascal, I hate my flesh.

Don't you hate your flesh?

I mean, not to the point where I loathe myself, not to the point where I look in the mirror and go, I don't like what I see.

I'm not talking about that kind of self-hate, but I'm talking about the hate when your flesh compels you to do stuff that you know are not productive in your life or in your relationship with God.

Because the flesh is a little liar.

The flesh will say all sorts of things to you that aren't true.

Have the piece of cake tonight, start the diet tomorrow.

Has anybody ever heard that before?

See, the flesh is talking.

It's the same voice for all the flesh.

He talks to us all the same way.

And so what do you do?

You have the piece of cake and you have every intention of waking up the next day and starting the diet.

But then here's what the flesh does: it's like, I tricked him once, I'm gonna try and trick him again.

And so here comes the flesh again.

Well, have a bagel for breakfast with tons of, with a mountain of, a mountain of what is up with the cream cheese on bagels that's like like can you take some off, please?

Like that's like cream cheese with a bagel on it instead of a bagel with cream cheese on it, right?

Have the cake again.

Start the diet tomorrow, and the flesh keeps over-promising and under-delivering and over-promising and under-delivering.

And here's what happens with the flesh.

Eventually you get to the point where you wish you would have been strong enough not to listen to the flesh, because when you give it to the flesh, it always winds up in regret.

So, how do I get the power to overcome the flesh?

How is it that I say no to my flesh?

The way I say no to my fresh, my my not my fresh, my flesh.

That's my fresh over there.

I was pointing to my wife.

No, I'm just kidding.

How do I say no?

I pray.

Jesus can relate to the will of his flesh and the will of his spirit against one another.

Think about what he's being asked to do.

I want you to allow them to beat you to the point where your mother doesn't recognize you.

I want you to not use any of your powers as God to defend yourself.

Let me make it real, right?

Somebody comes up to you, a little dude.

You're a big dude.

And that little dude wants to pick a fight with you.

And you're like, if I just hit you once, it's done.

But you let the little dude just boom, boom, boom, beat you and beat you and beat you.

And instead of protecting yourself or restraining yourself, you just let it continue to go on because you know if you swing once it's over for the little dude.

That's Jesus.

Jesus is God, the power to call a legion of angels on him in that moment and stop it all in a second.

But he allows himself to go through that, he allows himself to be beaten and tortured and whipped and bruised for a resurrection where people might put their faith in him for a maybe.

People will suffer for a sure thing, but how many people do you know that will suffer for a maybe on the outcome?

Jesus did what he did for maybe they'll put their faith in me.

Maybe they'll see me as Savior.

Maybe they'll realize that I was God manifest in the flesh who came to save their soul from eternal separation from me so they could have eternal life.

Maybe, for maybe he did it.

Thank you, Jesus.

Thank you for giving your life just for me.

Thank you for dying for me.

Prayer also gives us the ability to see beyond to see beyond what's going on to God's purpose.

When we go through struggles, we ask why, don't we?

It's just human.

It's human to ask why.

Sometimes we like we hate on each other for doing human things.

Somebody commits a sin, right?

It becomes public, and half the people go, like sin shocks you.

Here's why I know sin shouldn't shock you.

Next time you look in the mirror, look and go, oh.

Because every single person in this room, including yours, truly, does things that we know are not pleasing to God.

And when we do them, we all go, oh when somebody else does them, especially when it becomes public.

You know what?

Sometimes I just thank God.

I say, God, you know, thank you for covering me.

Thank you for not exposing me.

Not that I have like bad skeletons, but I have like skeletons like you have in your classes.

Same type of stuff.

Then you would look and go, oh, but they're there right there too, as well.

And so we think that, you know, that we ask these whys, and it's a human thing to ask why.

And so when we go through struggles, well, why God?

Why is this happening to me?

Why do I have to go through this?

Why is that?

Why?

Why God?

Can I can I do it my own way?

And Jesus' why was this?

It was if it is possible, can this cup pass from me?

This was Jesus kind of asking why.

Do I really have to go through this?

Does salvation really have to happen this way?

Why is it me who has to do this?

I mean, after all, uh look at what I've done already.

I mean, can it be Peter?

Peter's a loudmouth anyway.

Can't it be him he denied him?

Can it be Thomas?

He's a doubter.

Why does it have to be me?

Because it required a sinless sacrifice.

It has to be you.

So, what does he do?

He realizes the purpose and his why.

And that through prayer, and that gives him the motivation to keep on pushing.

And we see this all throughout the Bible.

Remember Joseph in the Bible?

Joseph has a dream, he tells it to his people.

The people who are hoping are going to rejoice, right?

And they throw him in a pit, beat him up, throw him in a pit, then they sell him into slavery, then he winds up in a place called Potiphar's house.

Potiphar's wife lies on him, he winds up in prison.

And I don't know, the Bible never says so, but I'm betting Joseph asks why.

Why, why, why, why, why, why, why?

And all of a sudden he's in the palace.

And not all of a sudden he looks back.

How many of you know when you get to the other side, you look back and you're like, ah, that's why?

Ah, God, you are up to some of the god.

Ah.

And if it wasn't for the pit, and if it wasn't for the prison, he would have never made it to the palace.

And then you have Esther in the Bible.

And she's an orphan slave girl whose parents died when she was a kid.

And she's in a foreign nation.

She's like, why?

And all of a sudden, out of all the people in the land, she wins a beauty contest that she doesn't even enter into.

Somebody enters her.

She wins a beauty contest.

She gets selected to be queen of Persia, by the way, which is modern-day Iran.

She gets to be queen of Persia, and she saves all of the Jewish people from extinction.

See, God was bringing something out of it.

God always brings something out of the situation.

If we will pray through, God will give us some redeeming value in what we're going to.

How about Mary and Joseph?

Hey, you're going to give birth to the savior of the world.

This is going to be awesome.

Where's the palace we're going to be born in?

Uh well, exit Mary, huh?

I know your water's about to break, but you got to get on a donkey and go about 900 miles.

900 miles on a donkey while you're pregnant.

Can you say fun?

Right?

And she has to go all the way there.

And then she gets there and she can't get a hotel room because there's no room in the inn.

And she's got to go into a barn.

And you've got to believe she's asking the question why, why, why, why, why, why, why?

Why, why, why, why, why?

Well, because prophecy said that the Savior of the world had to be born in Bethlehem.

And what better place for the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world to be born than a barn?

Here's what happens when you pray: God begins to bring redeeming value out of the struggle that you're going through.

The next thing that prayer does is prayer gives us the tranquility at peace with the price.

This is not popular in our participation trophy generation.

What I'm about to tell you.

But there's always a price.

There is always a price.

There is no calling without a cup.

There is no success without a struggle.

It's part of life.

It's a bag of goods to tell you that that doesn't exist.

There's always a price to pay.

Because listen to me.

Character is not only developed by what you do to get there, it's also determined by what you don't do to get there.

Let me say it again.

Character is not just developed by what you do to get there, it's by what you don't do to get there.

Personal example.

I love mob movies.

Love them.

Like I could just watch them on repeat all the time.

Anybody else love mob movies?

Anyone else Soprano fan, Godfather fan, Goodfellas fan, you know, Casino Royale fan, you know, all that.

I'm just a fan.

And God had to deal with me about this because they're not exactly godly shows, right?

Well, so God has dealt with me about this and I've kind of put it in check.

And but I have a friend who is now in a regular in a series, a new mob series on Amazon Prime.

Okay?

And is one of my really, really close friends.

And he must have asked me a dozen times already, do you want to be in the series?

Now, let's just call a timeout.

I'd be perfect for the role.

Come on.

I mean, really?

I mean, I'd do great in the role.

And I'm not talking about one of the bookies or one of the, I'm talking about the boss of the family.

I mean, come on, I'd be instantaneous great at the role.

See, I sound like Donald Trump right now.

Anyway.

That was funny.

I don't care what y'all say.

That was funny, right?

But here's the thing: God hasn't called me to be a movie star or mob boss.

God has called me to be a pastor and a preacher of the gospel.

And I won't bow to become anything else than what God has called me.

Because there's a mission involved.

And so we have to be at peace with the price.

God will ask you to do things that are heavy that your flesh doesn't want to do.

It's a price that we have to pay.

Jesus was paying a price.

Let's go back to that cup for a moment.

That cup, the cup of God's wrath, the cup of the judicial weight of God's wrath for all mankind coming on him.

In the garden, God literally gives Jesus a look into what he's about to go through.

He literally gives him a foretaste of what he's about to go through.

And as he's praying, the veil to the supernatural opens up, and Jesus doesn't see heaven, he sees hell.

And suddenly he gets a foretaste of what he has to go through for you and I.

He gets a foretaste of what it's like to experience the absence of the love of God.

All of us here experience the love of God to a measure.

The fact that we're breathing is the love of God.

The fact that we have life is the love of God.

The fact that the world doesn't implode, it's the love of God.

But if we ever experienced a moment without the love of God, it's treacherous.

And in that moment, Jesus experiences what it's going to be like on the cross when he utters those words.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

But not just the absence of love, he also gets a taste of the presence of divine wrath.

Just like the absence of God's love is greater than the absence of any human love.

The presence of God's wrath is greater than the anger of any human.

And in that moment, the full weight of that descends upon Jesus, and his capillaries fill with blood so that he begins to sweat and perspire, and blood comes out on the floor.

He tasted the price.

Here's what I love about Jesus, though.

Imagine you're going in for a root canal.

And they say you want Novocaine, and you're like, nah, I'm tough.

I've already decided when it comes to medical operations, I'm not tough.

I'm like, knock me out, just wake me up when it's over.

I'm tough.

Just I'll do it without the Novacaine.

And then you go through it, you're like, if I had known, I would have taken a Novocaine.

But imagine this.

Imagine before the operation, you magically go off and you see the operation and you feel the pain for two minutes.

And you come out and they say, Do you want the Novocaine?

You're gonna say, Yeah, give me the Novacaine.

Yeah, give me the Novacaine.

So you know how bad it hurts.

But here's what Jesus did.

He saw what it was gonna be like, He saw the pain, and he said, No Novacaine.

I'll do it anyway.

Why?

Because he loves you.

Because he loves me, and no pain will ever stand in the way of God's love for you and me.

And what prayer does is prayer gives you the tranquility to be at peace with the price.

But then also, and I'm getting ready to close, prayer gives us the restraint to respond the right way.

Jesus has prayed through, He's emerging from the garden, and as he emerges, here comes Judas.

And Judas gives him a little kiss.

Now, by the way, from a mob point of view, that means you're dead.

I mean, I know I always knew I liked the Bible for a reason.

It's like a mafia book right there, right?

He comes and he he gives him a little kiss.

And when he gives him a kiss, Jesus doesn't go, look at you.

You betrayer.

Look at what you've done to me.

I can't believe you're hurting me like this.

Here's what he says He said, Judas, you portray this, but betray the Son of Man with a kiss.

And we think that's just language, but what it is, it's a reminder of Daniel's prophecy.

Every Jewish person knew this.

And when Jesus referred to himself as the Son of Man 80 times in the Bible, they wanted to kill him for that because he was saying I'm the Messiah.

And so what he says to Judas, as Judas kisses him, is Judas, you know who I am.

It was a chance for Judas, even at that moment, to repent.

It was him responding the right way.

Because how you handle the struggle determines what you get from the struggle and what you see after the struggle is over.

And so Jesus, Jesus is like, I'm going to restrain myself in the middle of the struggle.

How many have had a struggle and responded the wrong way?

How many have responded the wrong way in a struggle and regretted it later?

Can I tell you, our response and struggles can cause us to abort our destiny?

Jesus sees Judas, and then here comes Malchus, the servant of the high priest.

Peter takes out a sword, he laps off his ear, cuts his ear, falls to the ground.

Malchus was the servant of Caiaphas.

Caiaphas was the one who is behind all of the scam trial, all of the setup and the crucifixion of Jesus.

Jesus knew that, and he bends down, he picks up his ear and puts it back.

Why?

Restraint to respond the right way.

Because guess what's at stake?

What's at stake is your destiny.

What's at stake is your moment.

What's at your at stake is what God has for you.

So the next time they talk about you and you want to clap back, the next time they betray you and you want to get even, the next time they lie upon you and you want to defend yourself, the next time they walk out on you and you want to shut down, the next time you're mistreated and everything in your flesh says react.

You better remember you're not in a moment, you're in a process.

And how you handle the moment determines whether you receive the miracle.

You could let a temporary situation cause permanent damage.

You can let a Judas moment cost you a Sunday miracle.

You can let what they did to you make you miss what God has for you, or you could pray and get strong so you respond with restraint in the moment so you can have what God has for you and what God has designed for you.

Prayer does that.

I said there were three things, and just for a few more moments, I want to give you this third thing.

First way we grow through every struggle, it makes us stronger as people.

Second way is prayer.

Third way is promise.

See, Jesus didn't just struggle through for no reason.

Hebrews says, for the joy set before him, he endured the cross.

Can I have the worship team?

Can you stop eating coffee and drinking donuts and please come out here?

Worship team, worship team, worship.

Can you turn the keyboard on for me?

You all know I play the keys, right?

Come on, turn it on for me.

Can you give me a little?

Can you give me a beat?

Worship team.

Come on, can you call the worship team with me?

Worship team.

Say it louder.

Worship team.

Who does this in church?

I do.

Worship.

How come I don't have my keyboard?

Can I have my keyboard?

Can you turn it on?

What's oh, I need to put a power.

I told you I played the keyboard.

Worship team.

I guess they they got raptured or something like that.

Thank you, Jesus.

And I couldn't even get the thing working, otherwise, I would have blessed you with some music.

The third thing is promise.

Are they here?

Oh, here they are.

Praise the Lord.

Come on, give our worship team.

Hallelujah.

The Bible says, who for the joy set before him endured the cross.

Most people think the passion is about two gardens Eden and Gethsemane.

And it is about two.

In the first garden, Adam took a fall.

In the second garden, Jesus took a stand.

In Eden, Adam agreed to eat of the fruit that brought sin upon us all.

In Gethsemane, Jesus agreed to take upon him the sin that redeemed us all.

In Eden, Adam hid from God.

In Gethsemane, Jesus surrendered fully to God.

In Eden, Adam chose his will over God's will.

In Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, Not my will but yours be done.

In Eden, Adam faced temptation in a perfect garden and failed.

In Gethsemane, Jesus faced crushing pressure in a fallen world and stood.

In Eden, Adam reached for what was forbidden.

In Gethsemane, Jesus refused to escape what was required.

In Eden, Adam blamed others for his sin.

In Gethsemane, Jesus took responsibility for our sin.

In Eden, Adam chose to bring a curse into the world.

In Gethsemane, Jesus chose to become the curse for us.

In Eden, Satan led Adam to a tree that led to death.

In Gethsemane, Jesus emerged and went to a tree that gave us life.

Two gardens.

Two gardens.

Most people think that's the passion.

But it's not about two gardens.

There's a third garden.

Most people miss this.

John chapter 19, verse 41.

John 19:41

Now, in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden.

And in the garden a new tomb.

And there they laid Jesus.

In the place that he was crucified, there was a garden.

And in the garden a new tomb.

And that's where they lay Jesus.

So the passion is not about two gardens, it's about three.

It's about Eden.

It's about Gethsemane.

And it's about the garden where there was an empty tomb.

Why says?

Because this is your life.

Garden one.

The fall.

That's what got you into the struggle.

That's the circumstances.

That's the situation.

That's the pain.

That's the problem created the struggle.

Garden two, the process.

That's Gethsemane.

That's where we've been today.

That's where we are right now.

That's where we learn to lean on God and not just people.

That's where we wrestle it out in prayer and we align our will and we learn to respond the word right way.

That's where we get stronger.

But then there's garden three, the garden of resurrection.

That's the promise.

That's the garden on the other side of the struggle.

That's the garden where what looked like death suddenly turns into life.

And so Gethsemane is not a place of suffering only, it's a place of sowing.

Gethsemane is not a place of suffering.

Gethsemane is a place of sowing because if it's not the final garden, it must be the place where I plant the seed for the promise that God has for my life.

And so what looks like dirt.

Actually, soil.

What feels like burial is actually planting.

What feels like the end is actually the beginning.

What you do in your struggle is seed for the Sunday miracle that God has for your life.

Your struggle could make you stronger.

Remember when Mary first laid eyes on Jesus, she thought he was a what?

A gardener.

Do you know why?

Because he is.

Because he's cultivating something in your life.

Because beneath the surface of what you see, he's working, he's growing something in your life.

The dirt that you're in, that's not your grave, that's your garden.

The tears that you've been crying, that's not senseless sorrow, that is water for your seed, the pressure you've been feeling, that's producing something in you.

The crucifixion of your flesh, that is the surrender of your will.

It's not killing you, it's making you stronger.

So watch this, watch this, watch this.

Every time, every time you say yes to God in the garden, guess what's happening?

You're getting stronger.

Every time you say yes, God, I'll persevere stronger.

Every time you say yes, God, I won't quit, stronger.

You're getting stronger in your faith, and you're getting stronger in your character, and you get stronger in your walk with God, and you're getting strong enough to overcome your past, and strong enough to stand against your pain.

Every time you make the right choice in the garden, you're getting stronger and stronger and stronger.