How many of you received the message from your church's pulpit that when you accepted Jesus as your Savior, your life was going to be changed? And taking that a step further, that life would not only be changed, but you could expect blessings to be poured out in abundance? And how many of you were disappointed when that didn't happen; that instead, you experienced disheartening challenges that had you wondering "Why aren't the promises and favor God promised showing up in my life?"
Many Christians assume that our Salvation guarantees an easy, prosperous life, free from any kind of struggles in this world; any pain, distress, trials, or conflict. It's not really all our fault for this misunderstanding. After all, preachers have gained fame and successful ministries by preaching a Gospel message of Prosperity and Success.
Yes, Jeremiah 29:11 does tell us, "For I know the plans I have you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." But Jesus tells us in John 16:33, "I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have tribulation. But take heart! I have overcome the world." It is so important that we take the WHOLE counsel of God! We cannot live in only the positive, merciful counsel of God. We must learn and digest His Word about discerning the consequences of receiving the Truth of our Salvation and the cost of belonging to Jesus in this world.
When we accept the power of Jesus that comes with our Salvation, we must also accept the responsibilities, accountability, and, yes, burdens that come with acting as His representative on earth. We no longer belong to the world, but are separated from them and belong to Jesus. He has bestowed upon us [among many things] the power and knowledge of God's Kingdom, and appointed us to bear fruit for it in His Name. We were chosen out of the world, and the world hates us because, like Jesus, we are a mirror that exposes their sin. So the citizens of the world hate us for the same reasons they hated Jesus. They will persecute us, for the same reasons they persecuted Jesus.
We must accept these burdens as the privileges of our sanctification unto our service for the Kingdom of God. We should consider ourselves no less called to trials and tribulations than the Disciples who answered Jesus's call in the first Century. Like them, we don't fully understand what it will cost us, but by being fully committed to His cause [by and through faith], we will be able to withstand the hate of the world and all the pain, suffering, and despair it tries to inflict upon our flesh.
Because this is what the world does not understand ... the burdens we may carry as the Lord's representatives shape us and sharpen us, refine and strengthen us to carry forth His Gospel to the world. We will be shaped into God's own weapons by the very afflictions meant to destroy us. We will be built to do the work we are called to do in order to exalt the Father and the Son, and to bring down those who seat themselves higher, on thrones of their own making.
In the aftermath of our struggles and battles, we will carry the banner of Christ, declaring His victory, and bringing His peace and the full knowledge of Him to all the world. I look forward to that awesome Day, and the resounding echos of God being praised across the globe. Until that day, I ask you to join me in waging our battles faithfully, and carrying forth our praises endlessly. Let us all find rest in the Word, shelter under His Wings, and joy in the knowledge that God holds us in His Mighty Hand. For the Day of the Lord is near and we glorify His Name!
Hebrews 10:24-25. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
