Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart..
Hebrews 12:1-3
We live in very interesting times where at any given time, different things are constantly fighting for our attention thus making it quite easy to loose track of the main thing. There are voices calling from every direction; while some cheer us on, some jeer at the top of their voices and if we do not carefully filter what we allow in, these voices can get to our head.
These past few months have weighed heavily on me as I try to figure out the direction that my life is taking and what I can do about it. I think the hardest part has been having to figure it out alone and I have found myself wishing over and over again for someone who can hold my hand and pull me up when I need the extra push, a listening ear when I need to talk, and even advise on the various options I have when I am feeling lost. While my friends are great, I find that while we are on different lanes, we are at the same level and more often that not, I do not go to them.
Now Jesus has already gone ahead of us and He is able to guide us as we walk this chosen path. While He did not need to become man and be perfected through suffering, yet for our sake He came and experienced first hand what it means to be man, and He showed us how we ought to respond in every given circumstance. Seeing that we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weakness, we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet He did not sin. Therefore, our best shot is to consider Jesus in all that we do and as cliché as it may sound, always ask ourselves, “What would Jesus do?“.
Among the lessons that we learn from the life of Jesus is obedience, He obeyed His Father even unto the point of death, and not just any kind of death but death on the cross. Many times, when our backs are against the wall and our vision is blurred such that we do not see a way out, we begin to compromise. Like Eve, we question, “Did God really say?” opening a door for the enemy to steal the heart of obedience. We begin to speculate rather than to obey. We worry about the consequences that would befall us if we chose obedience, which in essence would easily pass for taking up your cross and following Him. Elisabeth Elliots phrases it better; she says “Obedience is our task; the results of that obedience are God’s and God’s alone. ”
Being fully God, He knew that His time to die for the sins of the world was near, yet being fully man as He prayed in Gethsemane, He acknowledged that His soul was overwhelmed with sorrow, even to the point of death. Although He asked that the cup be taken from Him, He taught us to allow God’s will to prevail. As we consider Jesus, we realize that while the will of God is different from what we imagine, it is far bigger, far more difficult but unspeakably more glorious. Beloved, just as Jesus travailed to the very end and received a crown of victory, we too can travail as we consider Him who endured all and was perfected through suffering.
Jesus demonstrated true servanthood. He taught His disciples that the greatest among them would be their servants and openly rebuked the Pharisees for garnering praise and titles. He further went ahead to demonstrate this when He washed the disciples feet. What bewilders me is that He knew the hearts of these men; He knew that Judas would betray Him and that Peter would deny Him yet this did not stop Him from serving them. He took the place of a servant and washed their feet.
To say that I have a hard time putting the needs of others before my own would easily pass for an understatement of the situation. You see, I am always, albeit sometimes subconsciously watching out for myself. I only want the best for me and it is therefore quite the task putting the needs of my loved ones above my own, let alone those of my enemies. The rubber meets the road when I begin to put to practice what Jesus says that we should love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. But as I work through my emotions and consider the way that Jesus showed us, I can put others before me because the greatest among us will be a servant.
Jesus was secure in The Father’s timing. He was never in a rush; not once do we see Him running anywhere or worse getting impatient when He is interrupted. If anything, He was fully present, genuinely enjoying people. While on His way to heal Jairus daughter, He stops and asks who had touched Him since He realized that power had gone out from Him (Mark 5:30) and goes ahead to engage the woman who had had the issue of blood for 12 years. I imagine that if I were the one, I would probably not have noticed anything had happened until later on as I rushed to attend to what I deemed as urgent and important. I remember watching a movie where a man was hit by a car as he rushed to pitch his business idea to a group of venture capitalists. Because he was in a hurry, he just got up and headed to his meeting without going in for check up. A few hours later, he started nose bleeding but he just dismissed it. Eventually he passed out because he had internal bleeding; the man died because he did not get the needful medical attention. I tend to think this is how some, if not most of us go through life. We dismiss what we do not regard as urgent yet might be very important. Slowing down is not in our vocabulary.
On a separate occasion, when Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick, instead of rushing to Bethany to heal His friend, Jesus stayed where He was two more days. There was no sense of urgency in His life; He was perfectly content with the Father’s timelines. If anything, His goal was to do the Father’s will at any given moment. He believed in He who had sent Him and was therefore able to rest in His timelines. Not once did He do anything of His own accord; rather, He only did that which God directed Him to.
I look at the life of Jesus and wish for that calm and quiet surrender to the Father’s timelines. Lately I have been feeling the pressure of being 25 and not having my life figured out especially when my eyes wander from Jesus and look around to see what my agemates all over the world are doing. There are those who are already set in their careers, some are running companies, some are impacting the world at an international level, then there is me. But if there is a lesson that I desperately need to not only learn but also live out, it is this; being secure in the Father’s timelines. And what better example do I need apart from Jesus? I pray that God would grant me, and us, the grace to walk in His timing, that we may trust Him for things undone and for those which, according to our timelines are accomplished late.
Beloved, His comfort begins with His identity. Let not your heart be troubled. Robert Murray said “ If I heard Jesus praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet the distance makes no difference. He is praying for me.” Whether we are hard pressed on every side, perplexed, persecuted or struck down, may we continually consider Jesus that we may not grow weary or lose heart. When difficulty arises, consider Jesus who is faithful as a son over God’s house. Just as He was faithful even unto death, He will be no less faithful in all the blessed work that He can do in us, if we hold fast our boldness and the glorying of our hope firm to the end.
The Faithfulness of Jesus is our security!
Love and Light
Quintessence.
