Get Out of Your Way

Context: Jesus is entering a major transition. For many, it's now undeniable that He is the Messiah.

When life begins to shift, we're often unsure if we have the capacity for what's coming - which makes this moment incredibly relatable.

At the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus narrows the disciples down to three.

When you're headed into difficult seasons, you can't take everybody with you.

Matthew 26:37-46

"Not as I will, but as You will."

Jesus finds the disciples sleeping: "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation." He prays the same prayer three times.

Finally He says, "Behold, the hour is at hand."

The Promise vs. The Process

Social media is shifting from showcasing highlight reels to revealing more of the process.

When you see the process clearly, you better understand what the promise actually costs.

You cannot get the promise without the process.

People jealous of someone's promise doesn't understand that after surviving the process, the promise often doesn't feel glamourous.

God will never offer a promise without committing Himself to the process it requires.

The promise depends on God; the process depends on you.

The enemy tries to disrupt the process because he cannot stop the promise - it's already written.

If you do the process right, the promise is guaranteed.

You're in the middle of the process now.

Isaiah 54:17 is a promise but the process prepares you to carry it.

Serve God. Don't serve insecurity, doubt or fear.

You're one surrender away from stopping the weapons forming in your life.

Sometimes the weapon is revealing that you've drifted off track.

Stay where God placed you. He will take care of you.

God prepares a table in front of your enemies - meaning the weapons need a front-row seat to what God is doing.

The process doesn't produce the promise - it produces the version of you who can carry it.

The promise was set in stone the moment God spoke it.

The process shapes you to look more like the Promise Keeper.

Who you became in the process is worth more than the promise itself.

No one can imitate who God made you.

People can copy the recipe but they don't have the oil - because the oil was produced in the crushing.

There is no competition in the Kingdom. Everyone has their own grace, their own process.

Submit to your process.

Genesis 1:28 - Be fruitful and multiply.

Genesis 2:15 - God places Adam in the garden before giving him dominion.

God starts them in a smaller space (the garden) to master the character required to step into the promise.

You're in a season where God is cultivating you.

To have dominion, you must first master dependence on God.

Sometimes God puts us in situations where we need Him so He can teach us how to rule well.

The enemy wants to disrupt the promise by interrupting the process.

This is why he appears in the garden - the place God intended for dwelling and development.

Why did God allow the serpent in the garden?

• To teach them dominion.

• To show them how to defeat the enemy through obedience.

• To reveal they must seek God, not debate with the enemy.

Eve's mistake: facing the enemy instead of asking God.

You cannot go head-to-head with the enemy without a word from God.

When you have God's word, mountains move.

Ask: "God, give me a word for this fear...this insecurity...this addiction..." Nothing the enemy plants can take root when you stay connected to God.

When it looks like the enemy is winning, draw closer to God.

Worship is spiritual strategy.

Magnifying God brings peace.

Mastering the garden is learning how to be made in His image.

In this text, Jesus is transitioning and everything is changing. He feels sorrow.

He takes His disciples with Him to teach them that destiny always requires a garden.

Before stepping into the promise, you must go through the garden.

The garden is not only where things grow - it's where things die.

John 12:24

Unless the seed dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces much fruit.

Oil comes from crushing. New seasons require new oil.

Jesus insisted on aligning Himself with God's will: "Not my will, but Yours be done." To step into His destiny, He needed fresh oil - and to get out of His own way.