What If Christ Said, “No”?

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Reflections

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Posted On April 10, 2023

On Good Friday my family and I walked with a large crowd of people through the neighborhood streets of Holland, Michigan reenacting the stations of the cross. We stopped at different points along the way praying and recalling Christ’s bloody passion.

As members of the church community played out the roles of various people in the Good Friday drama, my eyes were drawn to the man playing Jesus.

His tired face was lined with pain. Droplets of tears mixed with sweat streamed down his cheeks as he dragged the heavy wooden cross. I gasped as the man fell in the dusty city street.

I imagined the pain Christ must have endured on that fateful day two thousand years ago. My thoughts ran rampant.

How did he do it? What gave him the strength to walk up Calvary knowing he would die? What if he said, “No. I can’t do it. I won’t do it.”

Something must have happened in the Garden of Gethsemane. An internal struggle must have unfolded as Jesus cried out for the Father to take the cup away from him.

I recalled the many times in my life I’ve demanded God take my suffering away. I didn’t sign up for this!” I’ve yelled at God too many times.

Jesus lamented.

He told his Father, “I don’t want to do this. It’s not what I imagined.”

How many times have I told God I don’t want to do what I know he’s asking of me?

In the Garden, Jesus cried for help. “If it be your will, give me the grace to do this.”

How many times in my life, have I come to a place of eventually accepting the suffering that has crossed my path. And in moments of anguish, how often have I cried, “Help me Lord. Give me your strength!”

With God’s Divine Grace, Jesus finished his life’s task. He climbed Calvary and gave his life back to the Father proclaiming, “Into your hands, I commend my Spirit.”

How many times have I been called to give up control, place my trust in God, and offer my Spirit to the One who loves me even when I don’t understand?

Jesus’ passion, his death, and resurrection model for us the pathway through suffering. It’s called lamenting.

We bring our sufferings, faults, and failures to God. We admit we don’t want to face the pain that has crossed our path. We don’t want to do it. It’s not what we planned.

We then cry out to God for help. We ask for Divine Grace to endure our sufferings and push through our fears with courage.

Somehow, in some way, grace then appears. A redeeming, transforming power ushers us through the veil of pain to the other side past our suffering.

On the other side of this new threshold, when our resurrection has occurred, we look back and realize we are transformed. We have risen from our graves of suffering. We’ve endured the pain and are renewed in our Spirits. God has sustained us.

When we lament, we don’t deny our emotions. We name them, honestly—despite how raw they might be. We then bring them to God and watch as the Creator transforms us.

Jesus lamented in the Garden of Gethsemane. His lament let him push past the human temptation to run away from suffering. This is the path he showed us by his example:

He cried aloud his raw emotions.
He asked God for help—for the grace to do what he did not want to do.
He then gave his Spirit, his heart, to the Father, trusting the God of Mystery would raise him from the grave of despair and death.

You and I know the rest of the Easter story. Jesus didn’t say “No.” Instead, he lamented. And in that unexplainable passage of eternal time there in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus received the divine strength to fulfill his life’s task.

This Easter and all year long, whenever suffering hits you with a sucker punch, take your lament to God. Cry aloud your fears and confusion. Be honest and raw with the God of love.

Then ask for the grace and power to push through your suffering. Give your heart to the Father. Trust that inner transformation will come with each of your resurrections.

—brian j plachta
brianplachta.com

Written by Brian J. Plachta

Following the Breadcrumbs God Leaves Along Our Path

What if God is speaking through ordinary moments more often than we realize?

A conversation that stays with us. A door that closes. A quiet nudge we can’t quite explain. An unexpected invitation that seems to come at just the right time.

The challenge is learning to notice these moments before we have any idea where they’re leading, and trusting the next step.

Over time, we may begin to see that God’s guidance doesn’t always come as an answer. Sometimes, it comes as a trail.

What to Do When God Seems Silent

Has silence ever made you feel like God is far away? When we feel this way, it’s easy to start looking for answers or waiting for a clear sign. But prayer can also be as simple as slowing down and noticing what’s already here. The breeze. The waves. Your breath. The quiet. God’s presence doesn’t always come through words. Sometimes we just need to be still enough to notice.

Let God Alone Define You

Ever have someone’s words get stuck in your head?
Maybe they criticized you, misunderstood you, or told a story about you that doesn’t feel true. And before long, you’re holding a courtroom in your mind—defending yourself, replaying the conversation, wondering if maybe they’re right.

There’s another way.

Bring it into the quiet with God.

Ask: Is there something here I need to learn? Is there something I need to own? And what was never mine to carry in the first place?

We can stay humble enough to receive the truth without letting someone else’s opinion become our identity.

Because in the end, God alone defines you.

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