It was a beautiful spring afternoon in Eastern Oklahoma when my secretary told me that Oleatha was on the phone. Oleatha was 67 years old and she had been having problems. She often became confused. She had a tendency to forget. Once, she had gotten lost going from church out to her home on a bluff that overlooked the lake. At the insistence of her family, she had gone through a battery of medical tests. The reports were in and Oleatha wanted me to come by and visit her.

When I drove into her driveway, I couldn’t help but notice the beauty surrounding her home. The redbud trees were blossoming, the tulips had pushed their way up out of the ground and were blooming, and the warm rays of the sun were glistening as they danced across the surface of the lake.

In spite of the beauty of the scenery, I suspected that Oleatha was facing a serious crisis. When I was invited inside her house, I could hear the tea kettle whistling and I knew that she had made me a cup of hot tea because she knew I didn’t like coffee. I didn’t tell her I didn’t care very much for hot tea. As we sat sipping our tea, I asked, "What did the doctors have to say?"

She reached for a tissue and said, "I’ve told you before about my family history. You know that my mother became mentally incompetent and didn’t know anyone or anything for the last three years of her life ... and you know that my older sister spent the last seven years of her life in a nursing home because she was not mentally competent and didn’t know anyone or anything. Well, the doctors now have a name for their diseases. They call it Alzheimers Disease, and they believe that I am in the early stages."

We were both silent for a moment; then she looked at me and said, "I am so afraid of what lies before me."

This is pretty much the way Jesus felt that night when he shared his last meal with his disciples. When the meal was over, they went out into the dark and deserted streets. Jesus seemed to know where he was going and the disciples trailed along in silent clusters. The only sounds were their sandals clattering along the cobblestone street. They walked past the Lower Pool and through the Fountain Gate. Finally, they headed up a hill toward a garden and the disciples suddenly knew where Jesus was going. He was going to a garden called Gethsemane. They looked back over the city and they could see a few lights twinkling, but most of the people were asleep because it was past midnight. They could see the Temple with its golden spire glistening in the moonlight. In the distance they could hear a Roman sentry calling his watch.

As they stood there looking across the city, they knew that Jesus’ life was in danger. It would be so easy for him to slip out of Jerusalem - especially under the cover of night - but they could not persuade him to leave. He seemed to have some kind of rendezvous with destiny, and he refused to listen to their suggestions.

So, while the weary disciples propped themselves up against some olive trees and quickly fell asleep, Jesus wandered off by himself. He knew that his confrontation with the religious authorities had set the die. He knew the possibility of a Roman cross lay before him. And, he was afraid. There, in the stillness of the Garden, he prayed for some other way. He prayed:

Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me ...

Fear and doubt had worked their way into the heart and mind of Jesus. He did not want to die! He was only 33 years old, and the fear of the Roman cross was real. He had often seen the condemned hanging on crosses outside the city gate. He had heard them moan in pain. He had listened to their curses. He had seen them writhing in agony. Jesus was human, and every bit of his humanity shuddered at the very thought of dying an agonizing death upon a cross. Luke, the physician, describes His fear by saying:

... and being in agony He prayed more earnestly; and His sweat was as if it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground ...

The fear and the doubt glistened in the sweat on his brow as he faced the central test of his life. But, he overcame that doubt as he simply prayed: "... nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done...."

We all face moments like this in our lives. Each of us has prayed to be spared, if possible, some tragedy so real to the imagination that with many of us, day and night, the thought of it is in our minds. We all have those moments when life seems to be closing in. We all have those moments when doubt and fear seem to be getting the best of us. We all have those moments when we feel like we are facing the central tests of life.

A few years ago, I was in New York City on Sunday and went to Riverside Church to hear William Sloan Coffin preach. When he walked into that pulpit, he leaned over it and said, "Here we are again to talk about what is really going on in your soul and mine."

Well, we are talking about what is going on in your soul and mine. We all face tests in life, and we all have a deep desire to be spared. But, we can’t be spared the tests of life and we know it. Our challenge is to learn to face the central tests which come our way in life. Next, using the outline of the Gospel, I want to suggest a couple of ways we can face the central tests which come in life.

I. We can face the central tests of life with friends. In that hour when doubt and fear were beginning to crowd in on Jesus, he took his disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane. That reaction makes sense to us. When we are desperate, when life seems to be closing in on us, we like to be with people with whom we feel comfortable. We like to be with people we love and who love us. Jesus wanted to be with his friends, so he took them to the garden. He had twelve disciples, but facing the Cross and the pain of his own fear, he went deeper into the garden with the three men who knew him best - Peter, James, and John.

By this example, Jesus shows us that when things are darkest and life seems to be closing in from all sides, we have a special need for human fellowship. Friends do not have to say much at moments like this; they just need to be people who care. When life seems to be closing in on us, there is nothing more reassuring than being with people who love us.

When I was in seminary, one of my professors was experiencing the sorrow of losing his wife to a terminal illness. Dr. Brown said, "Even though I had told Dorothy Ruth that I would never leave her, my heart trembled at the prospect of being there when she died. On the night of November 7, with death so near, I gently stroked her hair. She opened her eyes and looked at me and said, ‘Remember that I love you and I have always loved you.’ Then she was gone. There was deep sorrow in my heart at losing my wife of 21 years. If anyone had ever felt like his world was closing in on him, it was me."

As the news spread of her death, Dr. Brown said that his friends began to help him through the crisis with their personal visits ... telephone calls ... and casseroles. Dr. Brown said, "My dear friends comforted me and strengthened me and loved me. They made me realize once again that God cares and they care. Without the comfort of God and the loving, devoted care of my friends, I doubt that I could have survived the pain of the loss."

Does it sometimes feel like life is closing in on you? Do you feel like you are facing a crisis? a dark period in life? a time of turmoil? Then follow the example of Jesus. When he was facing the Cross, he took his disciples with him. When you sit alone with your friends and share some of your fears, I believe that you will discover strength.

I don’t know how many times in counseling situations I have had people tell me their problems. For the first time they share their problems from deep inside with someone else, and they leave saying, "You don’t know how much better I feel."

Their problem has not disappeared! They have simply shared their doubts and fears, and they are strengthened because someone knows and cares about them. When you are facing a test, when things seem to be dark and you see no light at the end of the tunnel, when life seems to be closing in on you, remember what Jesus did. He was facing the Cross of Calvary and he went to a Garden called Gethsemane with his disciples - his friends.

II. We can face the central tests of life when we learn to seek God’s fellowship. Once Jesus was in the Garden, he moved from being with his disciples to being alone with God. He found a place where he could pray - and prayer is communication with God. Each one of us has probably felt a need to pray at some time or another.

One Sunday morning, a Sunday school teacher of eight- and nine-year-old boys and girls suddenly pointed at one little boy and asked, "Bobby, does your family have prayer before breakfast?"

Startled that he had been singled out, Bobby blurted, "No sir, we say our prayers at night! We ain’t afraid in the daytime."

This is the pattern that many of us follow - praying or turning to God when we are frightened ... when we feel life closing in on us ... when we are facing some test of life. And this is exactly what Jesus did. He could see his path leading to a cross. He was grappling with his life, his very soul; He was praying so intently that he was sweating, as it were, great drops of blood. He was trying to align himself with God. He was seeking God’s presence. He was seeking God’s fellowship when the worry and doubt and fear began to close in on him.

One of my friends told me about a man in his congregation who had lost both of his sons in a freak accident. As he talked to the grieving father, he asked, "John, how do you feel now?"

The man replied, "I don’t feel anything! I’m just numb."

Again the minister asked, "John, how do you feel now?"

The man replied, "I just don’t know. I can’t see any way out of this terrible loss."

Once more the minister asked, "John, tell me what you really feel like on the inside."

In a voice that was breaking with emotion, John said, "I guess I feel a little like our Lord felt when he said, ‘My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me.’ "

The minister smiled and said, "John, I’m not going to worry about you anymore. Any man who seeks to line up his life with God when everything closes in on him knows something about fellowship with God."

All of us have those moments when life closes in on us. All of us have those times when we feel hemmed in by our problems. All of us face those tests in life. And we don’t know where to turn. Ultimately, every one of us reaches this point. Even Jesus reached this point in his life, and he responded not by lashing out. He responded not by giving up. He responded not by trying to laugh off his pain. He responded by seeking God’s fellowship in prayer.

Is there something in your life that is causing you pain? Is there something in your life that is filling you with doubt and fear? Is there something in your life that seems to have you backed against a wall? Is there some problem that you are facing which seems to have overwhelmed you?

Well, when you are faced with the tests of life, look at what Jesus did that night in the Garden of Gethsemane:

1. He took his disciples with him - his friends who loved and cared about him.

2. He sought God’s fellowship in prayer.

If Jesus followed this path when he was faced with the central test of life, shouldn’t we follow it, too?