My first test

Good morning to you,
Firstly our Wednesday house group is taking a couple of weeks off due to a number of commitments, so no meeting today and no meeting next Wednesday either. 
However, I am not excused from my Wednesday meditation and so I share this with you. As we are approaching Easter let’s take a walk with Jesus - to Gethsemane… Matthew 26:36-46. 
This is just after The Lord’s supper ( read all about it in Matthew 26:17 onwards) and just before He was arrested. 
Jesus is with His disciples at Gethsemane, a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives. He instructs his disciples to pray and then takes three of them to pray elsewhere in the garden. Jesus becomes overwhelmed with sorrow and is troubled “to the point of death.” He tells the three to keep watch with Him before falling with His face to the ground and crying to His Father “if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me, yet not my will, but as You will”, He returns to His disciples me and, finding them asleep He castises them. He went away again returning to find the again sleeping. This happened a third time and again expressed His disappointment. 
What this shows is Jesus’ total humanity. We often think that He bravely went to the Cross strong and stoic, but here he is knowing and fearing what lies ahead. He doesn’t want to go through with it and wishes He didn’t have to. He also accepts that this is part of God’s plan. 
This is one of the hardest things to accept for us isn’t it? God sometimes requires us to make sacrifices, hopefully never to be nailed to a cross though, we can pray to our Father to avoid a confrontation or uncomfortable situation. When we do ask for our ‘cup’ to be taken from us do we remember to add ‘but not my will but Uour, Father’? Kim has taught me to do that, but it’s not easy. 
What then if the disciples? Jesus’ closest friends, his best mates- ‘Yes Jesus, we’re with you, all the way, you can rely on us’ - 🥱 😴 💤
It can be difficult to stay focused. What about those times when we could go to church but just switch off the alarm and go back to sleep instead? Please don’t get me wrong I’m really not being critical - it isn’t a sin! I am just as prone to sleeping during prayer as were the disciples at  Gethsemane. Jesus states that “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” But in the great plan of God, may we not be caught sleeping when the hour is near. 
I have a personal anecdote which mirrors this passage which I may get the opportunity to share - it really cemented my faith and the way God forgave me actually turned my life around. God bless you over this Easter time during both the sadness and the gladness. 
God loves YOU. 🙏🏻🙏🏻