In the Garden of Gethsemane, the disciples went to sleep when they should have stayed awake, and once they realized what they had done it produced despair. The sense of having done something irreversible tends to make us despair. We say, “Well, it’s all over and ruined now; what’s the point in trying anymore.” If we think this kind of despair is an exception, we are mistaken. It is a very ordinary human experience. Whenever we realize we have not taken advantage of a magnificent opportunity, we are apt to sink into despair. But Jesus comes and lovingly says to us, in essence, “Sleep on now. That opportunity is lost forever and you can’t change that. But get up, and let’s go on to the next thing.” In other words, let the past sleep, but let it sleep in the sweet embrace of Christ, and let us go on into the invincible future with Him.There will be experiences like this in each of our lives. We will have times of despair caused by real events in our lives, and we will be unable to lift ourselves out of them. The disciples, in this instance, had done a downright unthinkable thing— they had gone to sleep instead of watching with Jesus. But our Lord came to them taking the spiritual initiative against their despair and said, in effect, “Get up, and do the next thing.” If we are inspired by God, what is the next thing? It is to trust Him absolutely and to pray on the basis of His redemption.Never let the sense of past failure defeat your next step.

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February 18 2015Journal Entry for Today

Lord, is this the way it really works? You told the disciples that failed You to simply move on.  Why do we spend so much time in despair over our failures when You simply tell us to move on? Aren’t we supposed to worry, fret and be focused on our failures so that we will not fail in the same ways again? Your response and direction seems almost too easy.

And God says…”The grace and mercy afforded you is easy. It is supposed to be easy…My yoke is easy and my burden is light. Rest in the knowledge that Jesus provided for all your failures; past, present and future. His sacrifice was for all humankind and each individual. Remember that Jesus paid it all…there is no requirement for you to remember your failures, simply move on to the fresh new thing, the fresh new today and tomorrow. If there is a lesson or if I can mold you from a failure, let Me take that action.  Be connected to Me and move on.“