All who have awakened spiritually to comprehend something of the great controversy that rages between Christ and Satan, are disturbed. They are concerned as they see that same great controversy raging in the hearts of loved ones. Maybe it's their children who are caught up in the rebellion against Christ that permeates the teenage world. The battles night and day are as intense as the struggle Christ had to endure in Gethsemane when He threw Himself on the ground sweating drops of blood. In His agony He sobbed as He prayed, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup [My coming cross] pass from Me." Then as the hours dragged by, in agony of soul He cried, "Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will" (Matt. 26:39).
That was the destiny hour of the world, yes of the universe itself: should He let Satan win? It wasn't the physical torture that He dreaded, no; it was the horror of hell. Not the Fahrenheit temperature of the lake of fire, no; eternal separation from life and light, eternal exile from the smile of His Father. The human soul of Jesus, yes, His divine soul, recoiled from the anguish that is the essence of hell--self-condemnation to the uttermost (He was in process of being "made ... to be sin for us, who knew no sin," 2 Cor. 5:21).
If your teens are going wild beyond your control, question: have they seen those same tears in your eyes? Have you done what those wonderful disciples of Christ did not do--"watch with [Him] one hour" in Gethsemane (Matt. 26:40)?
We teach our little children to sing "Jesus loves me, this I know," and they are so sweet; but all they can do is sleep through Gethsemane.
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
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