THE EASTER SERIES: WHEN THE HEART HURTS.

Estimated reading time: 13 minutes

Are you going through a situation where the heart hurts? Have you been going through something for so long that the heart hurts? Or maybe you are going through something that seems so hard for you and you don’t even know how you will handle it. Maybe it’s something that came at you unexpectedly. Or it is something that you saw coming, but were not ready for. Has your heart been hurting so much that you have either grown weary in praying or you just don’t know what to pray? Maybe you are in so much agony that you don’t even know what to do. Here is a word for you. And we will use the life of Jesus as a guide on what to do. So let’s get down to business.

Table of Contents

• Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. 
• Explanation. 
• Lessons from the garden of Gethsemane for when the heart hurts. 
  • God will get you to the purpose He has for you. 
  • If you are going through the crushing God is not done with you. 
  • God will strengthen you and give you the grace to endure. 
  • The road will be lonely. 
  • When the heart hurts, and you do not know what to do, just turn to God
• Conclusion.

Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane.

Then Jesus led his disciples to an orchard called “The Oil Press.” He told them, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” He took Peter, Jacob, and John with him. However, an intense feeling of great sorrow plunged his soul into deep sorrow and agony. And he said to them, “My heart is overwhelmed and crushed with grief. It feels as though I’m dying. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Then he walked a short distance away, and overcome with grief, he threw himself facedown on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if there is any way you can deliver me from this suffering, please take it from me. Yet what I want is not important, for I only desire to fulfill your plan for me.”

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Then an angel from heaven appeared to strengthen him. Later, he came back to his three disciples and found them all sound asleep. He awakened Peter and said to him, “Do you lack the strength to stay awake with me for even just an hour? Keep alert and pray that you’ll be spared from this time of testing. You should have learned by now that your spirit is eager enough, but your humanity is weak.” Then he left them for a second time to pray in solitude. He said to God, “My Father, if there is not a way that you can deliver me from this suffering, then your will must be done.”

He came back to the disciples and found them sound asleep, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open. So he left them and went away to pray the same prayer for the third time. When he returned again to his disciples, he awoke them, saying, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Don’t you know the hour has come for the Son of Man to be handed over to the authority of sinful men? Get up and let’s go, for the betrayer has arrived.” Matthew 26:36‭-‬46 TPT

Explanation.

Before we begin, I would like to point out that in this translation, they referred to the garden of Gethsemane as the Oil press. Now we all know that olives go through intense pressure and crushing for them to produce olive oil. Have you been going through intense pressure and crushing? It could be financial, emotional, or psychological? Whatever crushing you are going through is enough to cause the heart to hurt. But the thing about the oil press is that it shows that they crush olives because they have a better state they can be than what they already are. This is something that happens when God is preparing you for your purpose or redirecting you. 

Jesus knew He was about to do the task that God had assigned Him but He was not looking forward to it. Jesus had come for the salvation of humanity. He knew beforehand that He would be crucified as that was the way to redeem humanity. Still, when it was time He had a hard time accepting. Maybe this is you today. You know what God is asking you to do and because it is not easy; you are having a hard time submitting to His will. So what can you learn from the story of Jesus at Gethsemane? 

Lessons from the garden of Gethsemane for when the heart hurts.

God will get you to the purpose He has for you.

The olives in that state have a different purpose than after people crush them. Before the crushing, the olives are eaten, but after the crushing, olive oil had many uses. Some of them include:

• Cooking food,
• For illumination- In the temple, it was used to light the lamp
• As ointment,
• And in the manufacture of soap.

As you can see, olives by themselves served only one purpose which was food. But after the crushing, they used the oil in different ways, meaning it was much more effective after the crushing than before the crushing. After you have gone through the crushing you will have authority and power that you did not have before. God will use you because the fire will have refined you, causing you to come out as gold. This means that God will trust you more.

The glorification that Jesus experienced was much more than the crushing He endured. We can say the same of you. Right now, it might seem like all you are going through is pain and agony. But when it is all over, you will walk in the purposes God has for you. Not only that, but you will be effective in them.

If you are going through the crushing God is not done with you.

Maybe you have been overwhelmed with what you are going through that you feel like this is the best you are ever going to be. Has the fire been so hot and the crushing been so long that you think there is nothing good that will ever come out of this? Today be encouraged that as long as you are being crushed, God is not done with you. Yes, I know the heart hurts but when you hold on just a little longer, you will get to the other side of the glorification. The end goal is for God to redeem and restore and also for Him to be glorified.

When Jesus was at Gethsemane (the Oil Press,) that was not His final destination. He had to triumph and overcome death. In fact, Jesus now sits at the right hand of God because He completed His task. Although at the time He was going through it, HE was in agony, His death and resurrection accomplished far more for us and His reward was God placing everything beneath His feet. He not only came out victorious, but He had power and authority over the very thing He overcame. So even though the heart hurts right now, there is victory and unexplainable joy on the other side.

God wants you to know that He knows the heart hurts, He knows you are in agony. But I want to encourage you by saying, this is not your final destination. Allow Jeremiah 29:11 to encourage you today. God says that He knows the plans He has for you, these are plans to give you hope and a future. The verse before that, however, is something I want us to note. 

This is God’s Word on the subject: “As soon as Babylon’s seventy years are up and not a day before, I’ll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. Jeremiah 29:10‭-‬11 MSG

This verse was encouragement from God because the Israelites were not in a good place. They were in Exile, and they had come to a place where they needed redemption. But God had them stay on for 70 years before they could get out. God will come to your rescue that is a promise. But as He lingers, you need to go through the fire because that is how He will refine you. God develops your character in the crushing. And the refining gives you access to authority that you would not otherwise have. The reason now the Blood of Jesus and His Name are powerful is because He went through the crushing. He submitted to the will of God. Are you going to submit to the will of God, even when the heart hurts?

The cross is proof that the crushing is not something anyone looks forward to. Here was Jesus – the Son Of God, praying that God would take the cup away from Him. The heart hurts, I know, but let God do His perfect work in you. Because when you come out you will not look like you have been in the fire and the reward will cause you to forget all the pain, just like a woman who is in labor. Once she gives birth, she forgets the pain of her labor because of the joy of the child in her hands. The same thing goes for you, God will work out everything for your good and when He does, you will forget all you went through. 

God will strengthen you and give you the grace to endure.

When God allows you to go through something, He will give you the grace for it. God did not take away the cup from Jesus as He had requested. Rather, He sent an angel to strengthen Him. There are scenarios where, although God can take the cup away from you, HE will not. Obviously, this is not to punish you, although at the time it feels like it. The reason God is allowing you to go through it is that there is a purpose for it. He knows that you have what it takes to do it. Anyone who has ever been great had to go through a crushing of some sort that caused the heart to hurt.

But it was after the pain that came the promise. That is why we are told that Jesus endured the pain of the cross because He saw the reward that was awaiting Him. The reward was the salvation of mankind. But God gave Him more than that and now He has everything under His feet. There is nothing in heaven and on earth that is above Him. That is how much God honored Him. Your current situation might be so painful that you do not even know how God will do it. Your job, however, is not the how but to just be still and allow God to strengthen you because He wants to. 

The road will be lonely.

As Jesus was going through the crushing, the people He thought would intercede for Him did not. In fact, they were fast asleep. Not only that, but when Jesus was taken, they deserted Him and He had to face it alone. Sometimes God allows you to go through the crushing alone. Well, obviously you are not alone because He is by your side. But often, the people you think should be there for you will not and that’s okay, too. Do not be mad at them, instead just forgive and keep it pushing. God is by your side as He says in His word that He is close to the brokenhearted and those with a contrite spirit.

Do not be afraid of walking down the road alone because technically, you are not alone because God is with you. They might not understand it now, but in the end, they will and you will be glad you held on despite the odds.

When the heart hurts, and you do not know what to do, just turn to God

Jesus gives us the perfect posture to have. When He felt weak and did not know what to do, He turned to God. Do not allow the crushing to cause you to be bitter. Instead, let it draw you closer to God. God does not want you to go through this alone. He wants you to know that you can come to Him and tell Him anything. Regardless of the outcome, He wants you to know that He is close, and He has got you in the palm of His hand. 

God is the Potter and you are the clay. It does not matter what state you are at in the Potter’s hand, the point is that you are in the Potter’s hand and He has it all figured out. 

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Conclusion.

Although the Easter season is a period of celebration for us because of the finished works of the cross. It was not so as Jesus was going through it. The crushing is not a pleasant period. It is very messy and as the hammer mill crushes the olives, they take on a form that is not theirs. The old form becomes disfigured so that the new form can take form. The same goes for you when you are going through the crushing, your old self will be disfigured so that it can make room for the new you. 

Look at the example of Joseph, he went through an intense period of crushing for 10+ years. But it was in this period THAT God was refining him so that he can prepare him for the role he had for him. 

God might decide to allow you to go through a painful season. This however is not because He wants to punish you. Rather, it is because He wants to refine you and prepare you for your promotion and promise. After you have suffered a little while, you will experience your reward. You will become a fragrance that can be used for so many purposes and honor too. Your crushing is not your final state, it is just a chapter in your story. As long as the good has not yet come out of this, it means God is not done with you. And this is the promise He has for you. 

It seemed like a dream, too good to be true when God returned Zion’s exiles. We laughed, we sang, and we couldn’t believe our good fortune. We were the talk of the nations— “God was wonderful to them!” God was wonderful to us; we are one happy people. Psalm 126:1‭-‬3 MSG

Beloved, don’t lose hope as you are going through the crushing. Just like Jesus, surrender all to God and trust that He has something great for you. He also wants to strengthen you and hold your hand through it all. He is so proud of you and when you are done suffering, He will esteem you and you will gain power and authority in that area. The devil never has the last word. It is God who has the last word. As long as you abide in Him, you can rest assured that He will make all things beautiful and you will receive a reward for all that you are going through. Jesus is with you.

When the heart hurts and you have no idea what or how to pray, remember the Holy Spirit is interceding for you with groanings that no man can understand. You will come out victorious. Take heart, you are not alone. This is not your ultimate state.