One of the most painful human experiences is to find that what you had hoped would solve your problems, would satisfy your deepest longings, would dramatically change your life, only served to allay your inner pain for a relative moment before leaving you in greater anguish and dismay than before the hoped for event. We know that no court, be it inferior or supreme, can satisfy humanity’s’ deepest needs and longings.
The true answer can only be found in a relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord, as well as Savior. Many people say, “Oh, yes, I believe in Jesus, but I will not give Him the keys to my house. I will call Him when I need Him; but I will determine what I will believe and what I will do. I will decide what I will value and what I will discard.”
And Jesus weeps over those who wish to use him but not follow him. “Father, forgive them because they do not know what they are doing.”
So, weep with Jesus over all whose present celebration will only lead to bitter disappointment. Weep for the children who will grow up in a society where values are turned upside down. (Ezekiel 9:4)
And let us weep for ourselves that we do not have a place to lay our heads. Weep that institutions and denominations and courts and governments we had thought would carry the values of Christ no longer can be trusted to do so. But also weep that we have ourselves betrayed our Lord by looking to false gods to satisfy our needs.
But do not weep for too long. For Jesus says “Lay your head on me and not on another god. And know that in the midst of the greatest storms I am resting in your boat, confident in the victorious outcome of our journey. And know that I awaken not to the fierceness of the storm, but I awaken to comfort you, my anxious children.”
Yes, do not weep for too long; let the Lord comfort you and let the dead bury the dead. It is time to follow Jesus as “lambs among wolves”. So, the world is falling apart, but we are called to go into the world carrying his love and life-transforming Gospel.
Even if we are eaten by wolves we can know that it was His plan that our death would lead to the expansion of the kingdom. We can know that wolves will taste the difference and become hungry for a personal encounter and relationship with Jesus.
And we, we can rejoice and be exceeding glad because great is our reward in heaven because we have given our lives for the salvation of even our enemies, as did the prophets before us.
At the end of the day there are three options:
- We can compromise the Gospel so there is nothing for the wolves to hate .
- We can hate and curse and damn the world which Jesus came to save, so that no one will want what we have, or
- We can go forth rejoicing that we are called to live and serve in such a time as this. We can rejoice that we are called to lay down our lives for the world in loving service. We can rejoice that we have the privilege to proclaim the life-changing truth that Jesus is “the way, the truth and the life and that no one is reconciled to the Father except through Him.
In all of this, we can be confident that the Holy Spirit is in us and that He will guide us moment by moment and give us exactly what we need in our hour of trial.
It cannot get better than this: If we live, we live unto the Lord. If we die, we die unto the Lord.
Blessed be the name of the Lord!
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