Paid In Full: An In-depth Look at the Defining Moments of Christ's Passion (4 page)

Have you ever felt a need for help but found your friends couldn’t be counted on? Did you find your friends sleeping on the job when you felt a deep need for help and support? Were you in a situation that caused you to feel intense agony and that pushed you to the limit? Are you in that kind of situation right now?

Maybe you’ve never sweat blood, but more than likely, you have struggled in your soul at one time or another because of problems with your marriage, your children, your relationships, your ministry, or your finances. If you’ve ever felt like you were constantly living in a “pressure cooker,” you know that continuous pressure is hard to deal with —
especially
if you have no one to lean on for strength, encouragement, and help.

If you are experiencing one of those times right now, Jesus understands because He faced the same situation in the Garden of Gethsemane. Hebrews 2:18 says, “For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.” Because of what Jesus experienced, He is able to understand everything you are thinking and feeling.

I encourage you to set aside a few minutes to pray before you take one more step or make one more decision today. Talk to Jesus about the situations you are facing. He empathizes completely, and He will give you the strength you need to come through every one of life’s “pressure cookers” victoriously.

Intense emotional stress produces mental and physical distress. Jesus not only suffered on every level, He persevered through pain more difficult than you can conceive. Therefore, He not only completely understands everything you could possibly go through, He even empathizes with you. Have you ever thought about that before?

Jesus experienced the full range of human emotion and emotional strain. He knows exactly what it’s like to feel pressure bearing down on Him from every side. Because Jesus understands stress, He can be trusted to understand and to help you no matter what you may be facing. What are the areas in your life where you are experiencing stress? Invite Jesus into that area and trust Him to help you. He will.

Sometimes it’s easier to talk with someone who has already been through what you’re experiencing. But do you still hurt after talking to your parents, your friends, your spouse, or your pastor? It’s time for you to talk to Jesus. He is the Perfect One to talk to about your struggles because He understands better than anyone else.

Chapter 4:
Divine Assistance

I’ll never forget the time years ago that our ministry was under a great assault. For no reason we could logically explain, the financial gifts of our partners seemed to dry up and dwindle away for a number of months. After this drought had gone on for quite a while, our situation became very serious. I didn’t know how we were going to pay for our television broadcasts that covered the length and breadth of the former Soviet Union. It was time to pay the bills, and I didn’t have the money.

As I walked through the city of Moscow on a cold winter night, I broke inside from the pressure I’d been feeling. I stopped at Red Square, leaned against a rail, and literally wept, not even caring about the people who passed by me. I felt so frustrated because I didn’t know what to do. We had drained everything we had to keep those broadcasts on the air. Millions of people watched our television programs, and those hungry souls were depending on us. God had entrusted me with taking His Word to these former Soviet nations, and I took that responsibility seriously. But because our finances had dwindled, I found myself in an extremely hard spot.

After riding on the subway system for several hours while I tried to pull my thoughts together, I felt myself sinking deeper into a feeling of desperation. The reality was that if something didn’t happen quickly to change the situation, I would have to cancel our program, and all those millions who waited for it each week would lose the teaching of God’s Word.

I had just come up from the subway on my way to the television meeting when I leaned against that rail in Red Square and wept before the Lord. I felt so alone, so trapped, so unable to fix my problem. There didn’t seem to be anyone I could call or turn to who could comprehend the enormity of what I was tackling in the spiritual realm that night.

I cried out,
“Lord, why has this happened? Is there a reason our supporters have temporarily stopped their support? Have we done anything that opened a door for the devil to disrupt our finances? Please tell me what I am supposed to do right now about this situation. What about the millions of people who are waiting for Your Word? Do we just disappear from television and leave them wondering what happened to us?”

All of a sudden, it felt like a divine force entered me! Strength and courage flooded into my soul. I knew God was touching me, giving me a new supernatural boost of courage and faith to face this moment victoriously. Within minutes, my tears disappeared, my desperation vanished, and I began to celebrate the victory! Although I still didn’t have the cash in hand to cover all the television bills, I knew the battle had been won in the Spirit. As it turned out, the money didn’t come in all at once, but the valve had been turned on again and the gifts of our partners began to flow back into the ministry. I thank God for the supernatural assistance He gave me that night!

Have you ever known a time when you felt alone in the challenge you were facing? On the night of Jesus’ betrayal, He must have felt that way. He asked His closest disciples — Peter, James, and John — to come apart and pray with Him in those last hours. But every time He came back to check on the three men, they were sleeping. As we’ve seen, Jesus was experiencing a great spiritual battle and extreme pressure that night. That’s why He wanted His closest disciples to assist Him in prayer. However, that night they were not found faithful.

But when Jesus could find no one to stand with Him in His hour of need, God provided supernatural assistance! Luke 22:43 says, “And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.” This supernatural strength made up for any lack of support from His three closest disciples.

When Luke writes that the angel “strengthened” him, he uses the Greek word
enischuo
. This is a compound of the words
en
and
ischuos
. The word
en
means
in
, and the word
ischuos
is the word for
might
or
strength.
Normally in New Testament times, the word
ischuos
was used to denote
men with great muscular abilities,
similar to the bodybuilders in today’s world. But when these two words
en
and
ischuos
are compounded together, the new word means
to impart strength; to empower someone; to fill a person with heartiness
; or
to give someone a renewed vitality
. A person may have been feeling exhausted and depleted, but he suddenly gets a blast of energy so robust that he is
instantly recharged
! Now he is ready to get up, get with it, and get going again!

This means that when Jesus’ disciples and friends couldn’t be depended on in His hour of need, God provided an angel that
empowered, recharged,
and
imparted
strength to
Jesus,
renewing His vitality
with the strength needed to victoriously face the most difficult hour in His life. After being super-charged, Jesus was ready to face the Cross. He awakened His disciples and said, “Rise up, let us go; lo, he that betrayeth me is at hand” (Mark 14:42).

God is absolutely committed to seeing you through the situation you’re facing. And, if necessary, He will provide supernatural assistance to recharge you and keep you moving full steam ahead.

Maybe you’ve experienced a time in your life when
you
felt trapped and alone. Perhaps you thought your friends would help you, but then they let you down at a time when you really needed them.

If that scenario sounds all too familiar to you, don’t let desperation take over! Your friends may have fallen asleep on the job, but God hasn’t! He is absolutely committed to seeing you through the situation you’re facing. And, if necessary, He will provide supernatural assistance to recharge you and keep you moving full steam ahead. You may be tempted to feel isolated and alone, but if the eyes of your spirit were opened for just a moment, you’d see that you’re not alone at all! God is surrounding you with the Holy Spirit’s power, with angels, and with anything else you need to keep going forward.

Regardless of the particular battle or situation you are facing in life, God will always come to your assistance. The same divine help He provided for Jesus in the Garden, He will provide for you. When no one else is faithful, you can rest assured that God is
always
faithful. He will see to it that you receive the strength and power you need to triumph in every circumstance.

Supernatural assistance is a part of your inheritance as a child of God. All you have to do to receive that assistance is claim it by faith and then walk in obedience to what God tells you to do.