You were EXCITED when you got that job… then, you were like, “Oh God! I have to get up and go there AGAIN?”
You were EXCITED when you first went on that date… then, you were like, “Could you please just SHUT UP?”
EXCITED when they said you got the place. Now, it’s a mess. Too much trouble to keep up.
Do we get tired of things because we get what WE want instead of asking God what HE wants for us? Some people are saying, “No! That’s not me! I ASK God for the things I want!”
But, that’s not the same thing.
Praying for the things you want, and praying for revelation on the things God wants FOR YOU are not the same thing.
Jesus got to a point where HIS job wasn’t that much fun anymore, either. All the hoopla about his miracles and wisdom had died down. Indeed, many of his followers had straight left Him after they realized He didn’t come to side JUST with the Jews. How dare He heal a Roman Centurion’s servant and praise his faith? They are the oppressor! You’re not supposed to be nice to THEM! You’re not The Messiah we thought you were!
At the same time, there was no denying the miracles He performed. So now, not only was He accruing enemies for not being “partisan”, but because, His “work” was so undeniably good that it threatened the positions of the “religious elite”!
He just couldn’t win. And, so they sought to kill him.
Not that Jesus didn’t know this from the beginning. He knew from the beginning how it was going to play out. STILL, there came a time, when the weight of it all became unbearable, and He knelt in The Garden of Gethsemane, sweating BLOOD and asking God if there was any other way to accomplish His job of redeeming our souls than going to that cross.
And, do know that “sweating blood” is not just a figurative expression. There are documented cases of prisoners sweating blood before they go to the electric chair. It’s a biological phenomenon that occurs sometimes when capillaries break through the skin during times of extreme stress and fear.
Jesus was TERRIFIED.
STILL,
He prayed, not for HIS will, but The Father’s. “Nevertheless”, He said, “Not MY will, but THY will be done”.
Do you ever wonder how people stay a course so extraordinarily wrought with difficulties and trials? How Martin Luther King stood at that podium PROPHESYING his death, saying that he KNEW he wasn’t going to the mountain top with us, but knew that one day, as a people, we would get there? To KNOW that his death was eminent, but KEEP MARCHING?
How, Obama, stays on course although he has had more death threats and been disrespected more than any President in American history and from every angle? From the press? Fellow politicians? The public? All of the above even routinely attacking HIS WIFE????
If most of us were on a job like that, we would just QUIT. Forget it! ESPECIALLY after it started out so fun! I went to the Inauguration and I saw all the joy and camaraderie up front. I saw the giant banner hanging across the Broadcaster’s Museum glowing, “Welcome, Sasha and Malia!” Now, those same broadcasters have called those children’s father everything from a terrorist to the AntiChrist with NO regard for their young lives.
How do you keep going when it’s no longer “fun”?
Sometimes I wonder. I’ve quit a lot of things -- the majority of which I’m glad about. Like Kenny Rogers said, “You gotta know when to hold… know when to fold… know when to walk away… and know when to RUN!” And, like I say, "sometimes you gotta quit something to get something." But, for those “destiny assignments” how do you press through when like in a Nike ad I once read (and kept) “it becomes not just difficult, but cold and difficult, OR cold and wet and difficult, OR cold… and wet… and difficult… and dark”? How do you keep going when all around you looks impossible?
Well, the April 2011 issue of Women’s Health, a magazine I love, featured an article on what we call “Tru Grit”, and examined how people who were not always the smartest or the fastest prevailed where others failed. They defined grit as:
“sustained perseverance and passion for long-term goals,” and that “grit seemed to explain why more top CEO’s hail from state schools than from the Ivy League, and why some people gut out that last series of situps in boot camp while others flop on the floor when the burn really kicks in.” According to a study at the U. of Penn.
My Bible cuts to the chase: “He who stands firm to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 24:13).
And, regarding keeping your Spirit intact, while you’re being attacked, it encourages, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they prosecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matt. 5:11-12)
Obama, King, and many others share the experience of literally all the Biblical prophets before them, except Jonah, who were all “sent to a stubborn and obstinate people” (Ezekiel 2:4). God warned that they wouldn’t listen to them, but they still had to do and say what God gave them to do and say.
THAT’S a tall order! How do you do that? Well, as for me, I’m just gonna keep on trying to do it the way Jesus did it because like Zechariah 4:6 warns, it’s “not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says The Lord”. And, if Jesus, the Son of God, had to stay in a position of prayer to draw His strength to endure, surely I can’t rely on my own flimsy strength!
So, that’s where I want to stay. Not praying for what I want—for me OR my loved ones, but ever seeking GOD’S will-- over my own fears, desires and limited perspective and getting HIS strength to press through.
Now that’s what I call, “Tru Grit”.
How about you? What do YOU think?
Thank You, Jesus! I love You!
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