Stay [With-Me]

Matthew 26:36-42 (AMP)

36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and He told His disciples, Sit down here while I go over yonder and pray. 37 And taking with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, He began to show grief and distress of mind and was deeply depressed. 38 Then He said to them, My soul is very sad and deeply grieved, so that I am almost dying of sorrow. Stay here and keep awake and keep watch with Me.

39 And going a little farther, He threw Himself upon the ground on His face and prayed saying, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will [not what I desire], but as You will and desire. 40 And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and He said to Peter, What! Are you so utterly unable to stay awake and keep watch with Me for one hour? 41 All of you must keep awake (give strict attention, be cautious and active) and watch and pray, that you may not come into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. 42 Again a second time He went away and prayed, My Father, if this cannot pass by unless I drink it, Your will be done.

The Free Online Dictionary defines 'stay' as:

stay 

1. To continue to be in a place or condition: stay home; stay calm.

2. To remain or sojourn as a guest or lodger: stayed at a motel.

3. To stop moving; halt.

4. To wait; pause.

5. To endure or persist: stayed with the original plan.

6. To keep up in a race or contest: tried to stay with the lead runner.

7. Games To meet a bet in poker without raising it.

8. To stand one's ground; remain firm.

9. Archaic To cease from a specified activity.

Nowhere does the humanity of Jesus pour out so conspicuously for me as in this scene in Gethsamane. He knew or had a sense of what was coming. The dread that must have filled him was enough for Him to realize He could not do it alone. He needed support. He needed loved ones to 'stay with Him.'

Yet even though He told them of how very grieved and sad He was, and specifically asked them to endure with Him, stay awake with Him, they could not.

Instead of feeling rejected and angry, He chose instead to exhort them, understanding that their spirits may have been willing, but their flesh was weak.

In fact He told them in John 16:32 (NIV), 

“A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone.Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me."

He knew He was not truly alone.

I remember specific times when I longed for certain people to 'stay with' me and the terrible feeling of abandonment that filled me when no one was able to be there.

I also remember when certain loved ones could have used my presence, a 'stay-with' presence, in their moment or season of crisis, and I was unable to be there. Not because I did not want to, but circumstances at those times made it impossible for me.

I often wonder if they felt deliberately abandoned by me.

But God has said He would never leave me nor forsake me. So the truth of the matter when I look back is that there was always that Unseen stay-with Presence with me or with my loved ones in crisis.

There was only ever One Person who was truly abandoned in the moment of His greatest suffering on earth. It was He Who cried out, ...about the ninth hour (three o’clock) Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?—that is, My God, My God, why have You abandoned Me [leaving Me helpless, forsaking and failing Me in My need]?

At that moment, He truly was, for on Him all our sins had been laid, and God in His holiness, could not look upon Him and turned away. It was the agony of hell, of spiritual separation from God, that He experienced with and for us. For in our natural sinful state, we too are spiritually separated from God. When Jesus stayed [endured, stood firm] for us on that Cross, He took the punishment due us. His innocent blood washed away the stench of our sins.

And now, when we believe and accept this as His gift to us, offered freely, we get to be restored in relationship with the Father. We get the promise of His 'stay-with' Presence because of Jesus staying, enduring that Cross.

Thank You, Father, for staying in love for an undeserving sinner.

Thank You, Jesus, for staying on that Cross and enduring the impossible for me.

Thank You, Holy Spirit, for staying in my heart to comfort and counsel and convict.

May I be imbued with Your 'staying' power, to endure to the end, to stand firm, to stay-with. On my own, I cannot, for as You know, the spirit is willing but the flesh is oh-so-weak. Anoint me with Your power, O Lord.

Help me to stay with You, no matter what. I know that You have promised that You stay with me always. But I leave You so many times and end up miserable. 

I want to stay with You always. In the good times. In the bad times. I need Your help.

Linking up with Faith Barista's JamWithMeThursdays for today's writing prompt "Stay".