“Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teaching that come from demons. These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead.” (1 Timothy 4:1-2 NLT)
Life is hard for a believer. Every morning I pray for those who are living every second under the threat of persecution and death. They have no promise that this won’t be their last day in their house, with their family, on this earth, yet they persist with undeniable confidence that they are God’s child and whatever happens to them is inconsequential compared to knowing, loving, and standing strong in Jesus.
For us in America and other places on the earth where living for Jesus doesn’t put us in the literal “crosshairs” of those who hate even the thought of Jesus and His Church, we often mistake hardship or “bearing our Cross” for someone taking our parking spot at church or cutting in front of us in the Starbuck’s line.
On many levels we have no concept of what persecution or sacrificing for the cause of Christ really looks like. We believe “myths” or “lies” that give us confidence in a false Jesus who indulges our every whim and protects us against every threat.
For example, we believe in a “fairy tale” marriage. C.S. Lewis in his book Mere Christianity wrote: “People get from books the idea that if you have married the right person you may expect to go on ‘being in love’ forever. As a result, when they find they are not, they think this proves they have made a mistake and are entitled to a change. The sort of thrill a boy has at the first idea of flying will not go on when he has joined the R.A.F. and is really learning to fly. The thrill you feel on first seeing some delightful place dies away when you really go to live there.”
Just as in marriage our relationship with Jesus may begin with a lot of emotion. We hear verses that teach that He will “never leave me or forsake me,” and wrongly believe that that means we’ll never lose the strong emotional connection that we felt when life in Christ was new. But that verse and others like it aren’t given to keep us on the proverbial “mountain top,” they’re given to sustain us in the valley.
Janel Breitenstein, in a Family Life devotional, wrote: “Your lack of stomach flip-flops isn’t a sign you’ve got the wrong kind of marriage. Life on this side of heaven will inevitably leave us hungry. (Not even a relationship with God provides endless butterflies and happy-hormones.) This world is a prescription for faithfulness and perseverance, preparing us for a world we can’t see. So set aside some of the emotion—and buckle down for a far more rewarding level of devotion.”
When we believe the Lord desires everyone who follows Him to be rich in the trinkets of this world, we believe a lie from the lips of Satan himself. On my first mission’s trip I met believers whose life expectancy was early 40’s, largely because of poor nutrition caused by their annual income of only about $400 a year. Yet, I could literally tell who loved Jesus by their countenance.
Meeting these brothers and sisters gave me insight into what loving Jesus should really mean and helped me curb my insatiable appetite for the things of this world. It also taught me that love for Jesus doesn’t result in an ever present emotional high, any more than marriage or any other love relationship.
Loving Jesus, like marriage, is a decision to love regardless of the “curves” life throws us, realizing that whether He blesses us with a new Mercedes or whispers His love as we’re turning in the car we can no longer afford, His love never changes and every circumstance He allows in our lives is meant to draw us ever more closely to Him, not to diminish our trust, but to build our trust in Him.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 