0218 採取主動對抗絕望
起來，我們走吧。《馬太福音26:46》
在客西馬尼園裡，門徒們在本該保持清醒的時候卻睡著了，一旦他們意識到自己做了什麼，那就生出絕望。意識到做了不可挽回的事，容易令我們絕望。我們說：「好了，現在一切都結束，也都毀了，再努力還有什麼意義。」如果我們認為這種絕望是一種例外，我們就錯了。這是人類非常普遍的經歷，每當我們明了自己沒有抓住一個絕佳的機會時，我們就很容易陷入絕望。但耶穌來了，慈愛地對我們說這句話，其精髓就是：「現在繼續睡，這機會就永遠失去了，你無法改變這一點。但，起來，我們繼續做下一件事。」換句話說，讓過去沉睡，但讓它沉睡在基督甜蜜的懷抱中，讓我們與祂一起走向不能征服的未來。
我們每個人的生活中都將有這樣的經歷。我們會有生活中真實事件所造成的絕望時刻，而我們無法擺脫它們。在這種情況下，門徒們做了一件完全無法想象的事情——他們去睡覺，並沒有和耶穌一起守望。但我們的主來到他們身邊，採取屬靈的主動性來對抗他們的絕望，實際上祂是說：「起來，做下一件事。」如果我們受到神的激勵，接下來的事是什麼呢？就是絕對信靠祂，並根據祂的救贖來禱告。
永遠不要讓過去的失敗感挫敗你的下一步。
來自章伯斯的智慧
衡量我們為神而做的公開活動的價值，其標準是我們與祂私人的深交……我們必須把我們的帳篷搭在總是能與神一起安靜靈修的地方，無論我們與世界在一起的時間有多麼喧鬧。《竭誠為主》，1月6日
0218 Taking the Initiative Against Despair
Rise, let us be going. —Matthew 26:46
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.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The measure of the worth of our public activity for God is the private profound communion we have with Him.… We have to pitch our tents where we shall always have quiet times with God, however noisy our times with the world may be.– My Utmost for His Highest, January 6, 736 R