From Pity to Praise

People think of the Garden of Gethsemane as a peaceful place where Jesus went to spend time alone with His Father and pray. When in fact Gethsemane actually means “oil press.”

The Garden of Gethsemane was located at the foot of the Mount of Olives, which is the biblical site where Jesus experienced profound agony, prayed, and was betrayed by Judas Iscariot before His crucifixion.

The Garden of Gethsemane – the oil press symbolizes the intense pressure Jesus faced while accepting His impending sacrifice.

The agony in the Garden followed the Last Supper, Jesus, with Peter, James, and John, went to the Garden, where Jesus was deeply distressed, asking for the “cup” of suffering to be removed while ultimately submitting to God’s will. Luke 22:44 says His agony was so severe that His sweat was like drops of blood.

Peter, James, and John fell into a deep sleep until Judas Iscariot arrived with the Roman Soldiers carrying swords, sent by the chief priests and Pharisees. Judas identified Jesus with a kiss of greeting leading to Jesus’s arrest.

Jesus was quickly abandoned by His disciples, who fled in fear.

A big shout out to my Pastor for sending these Messages every week.

At the Last Supper, everything seemed complete -the bread was broken, the cup was shared, and the disciples sat with Jesus in a moment heavy with meaning. Yet something was left unfinished.

Jesus said He would not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. In the rhythm of the Passover Seder, there was still one cup that remained -the final cup of completion. And He chose to wait.

Why?

Because the story wasn’t finished in the upper room.

Later, in the Gospel of John, as Jesus hung on the cross, He received a drink of bitter wine. Then He said, “It is finished.” The suffering, the sacrifice, the love – brought to completion.

There are times in our lives that feel unfinished – prayer unanswered, struggle unresolved, hope delayed. We like the disciples, sit in the tension of “not yet.”

But Jesus shows us something profound. God is still completing the work.

The cup you don’t see yet…will be.

The story we think has stalled is still unfolding.

When life feels incomplete, through the profound Last Supper cup let us know God is still at work. We need to trust in the waiting. Just as God has fulfilled every promise in His perfect time, let us keep the faith to believe that what is unfinished in our lives is not forgotten, but is being brought to completion through Him.

“Trust God He is still writing your story.”

Most people don’t recognize Good Friday as an important holiday. But it commemorates the crucifixion in the death of Jesus. This is an important event because it represents the sacrifices and suffering in Jesus‘s life. In the cross is often used as a symbol to people who followed Jesus.

The crucifixion was the conclusion of a number of events in Holy Week, including the triumphal return of Jesus to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the washing of the disciples feet by Jesus, and the Last Supper. This is known as Good Friday given there tragic events. It signifies the ‘Good’ and Good Friday does not describe these events, it actually comes from old English when Good meant Holy.

It is often celebrated with strict fasting or partial fasting which involves the exclusion of meat. Some churches also have services or prayer vigils.

Some people observe a quiet, somber day with limited entertainment, while others may hold small gatherings.

It’s a day to remember what Jesus died on the cross as the ultimate, substitutionary sacrifice to atone for our sins, fulfilling God’s requirement for justice and providing forgiveness. His death and resurrection bridges the gap between God and humanity, offering eternal life and salvation through faith to all who believe.

Survivor empathy is a deep capacity for understanding, born from adversity, that drives a commitment to sustain able choices and a purposeful life.

I’ve never really thought there was a different type of empathy until recently.

Survivor empathy begins with a human capacity to understand the feelings of another person. It is the ability to connect with an experience you may not have lived yourself, offering a bridge of shared emotion. It’s the most accessible form, it involves listening to someone who has face hardship and acknowledging that Validity of their story and their feelings.

It is a quiet, active presence, a way of communicating belief and support without needing to provide solutions. It’s a form of empathy that is a foundational social skill, that knits people together is through mutual understanding and care. When we see someone hurting and feel a resonance with that pain, we are tapping into this fundamental human connection.

People with survivor empathy, have a deeper understanding and possess a unique ability to see hidden emotions such as spotting fear behind the smile or fatigue behind a brave face.

This form of empathy is action oriented, it often needs survivors to a career advocacy, medicine, or roles that support vulnerable individuals.

Research shows that surviving traumatic events can, overtime transform initial personal distress to increase compassion for others.

There are challenges and characteristics of this:

• Hyper-Vigilance

People with survivor empathy tend to scan environments for danger, which can lead to accurately sensing others emotions.

• A Need for boundaries

As with someone with basic empathy, they may feel the pain of others so deeply that they often need to practice self-care to avoid overabsorption of others.

• Self-Empathy

Is important for someone with survival empathy’s journey to extend the same compassion they offer others to themselves treating their own healing with patience.

Ultimately, the empathy of a survivor is a “blessing” rising from “broken places,” allowing people to provide a unique kind of support, recognizing and validating the unseen struggles of others.

Not all empathy is born from love. And not all empathy comes from a natural openness to life. Their exist, a form of empathy that is carved not gifted. An empathy that emerge is not from safety, but from prolonged pressure and emotional danger. It is empathy of a survivor. The one who learned to read the atmosphere from a room long before they learn to trust it.

There’s tension in faith that most people don’t talk about openly. We like to think that God is purely protective, surely comforting -the One who shields, heals, and delivers. And He is. But there’s another side to that relationship that can feel unsettling at first. Sometimes, the same God who protects us is also the One who positions us in a place where we feel exposed.

It can feel at times, like He’s painting, a target on our back.

God doesn’t do this because He’s careless or cruel. But because purpose often requires visibility -and visibility invites opposition.

I think about moments in life that I’ve stepped into something meaningful, a calling or conviction. My decision to grow and change, to stand for something started quietly, but they attracted resistance, internally, externally, and spiritually. Suddenly, I felt seen in many ways I didn’t ask for. Vulnerability in ways I didn’t expect.

It’s easy in the moment to question, “Why would God lead me here if it’s just going to hurt?” But, what if the exposure isn’t abandonment? What if it’s alignment?

There’s a profound idea embedded in this paradox. The same God who paints the target on our back, is also the One who stops the arrow. The same God who refuses to leave us unguarded. The same God who calls us forward into any challenge, into growth, into risk -is the One who’s standing between you and what could ultimately destroy you.

It doesn’t always mean you won’t feel the arrow. But it does mean the arrow doesn’t get the final say.

Protection doesn’t always look like avoidance. Sometimes it looks like endurance. Sometimes it looks like transformation is in the middle of the very thing we hope to escape. And sometimes, it looks like unseen boundaries. The lines you never knew were there, or something meant to take you out simply doesn’t.

That’s the mystery of it.

We may feel targeted, but we’re not un guarded.

We may feel exposed, but we’re not abandoned.

And maybe just maybe the deeper truth is this: if God trust us enough to place us in a position where we are visible, it’s because He’s already committed to standing in the gap for us. Not always by removing the battle, but by redefining the outcome.

So maybe next time we feel like we’ve been single out, and somehow ended up in the line of fire, we should consider the possibility that there is more happening than we can see.

The same hand that let us there hasn’t let go.

The same presence that allowed the target is still present at the point of impact.

And the story isn’t about the arrow, it’s about who is standing between.

God sees what we cannot see -our future, our motivations of our hearts, and the spiritual, big picture of our lives.

I would have never thought throughout the struggles of my life that God was working on a path for me in the background. There were many times I thought my life was over, there was no moving on from the mistakes I had made, the disasters I so willingly put myself in. I could only see my current circumstances. Thankfully God acts out of divine protection and love, often turning struggles into blessing, opening closed doors.

God knows end from the beginning, understanding why certain opportunities are closed to protect us from future harm. He sees through character and the hidden things that no one else sees, including secret, prayers and tears.

God sees the spiritual realm. He’s aware of the spiritual battles and realities that are more permanent and guide us through them safely.

He sees our future path and understands the trajectories and places His hand is on us for protection and guidance, even when we feel like we’re stuck.

Someone asked me the other day, “Have you ever prayed for death?“ I was a bit taken back at the question. But, then I started thinking, and answered “many times.” So, many times I prayed for God to not let me wake up in the morning. As well as trying to do it myself. I never understood why I never succeeded. Now I know God had a different plan and purpose for my life.

When life feels confusing or prayers are not answered as we expect, know that God’s perspective is superior to our own, and He is orchestrating “divine detours” for our ultimate good.

“For I know the thoughts that I think towards you,” says the Lord, “thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you a hope and a future” -Jeremiah 29:11

Doug Sheets does a 5 day a week 15 minute prayer time on YouTube. This was his prayer this morning. I thought it was perfect for this morning. It fits so well for this season we’re in: