Doing the right thing in the will of God does not guarantee respect. Indeed, a Follower of Jesus may well encounter unexpectedly fierce resistance from evil agents and religious zealots.
King David in Prayer (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
King David, surprisingly, experienced this. In a lament from deep within his soul he wrote:
O God,“Indeed, for your sake I have endured insults.
Humiliation has covered my face.
I have become a stranger to my {own} brothers,
a foreigner to my mother’s sons.
Indeed, devotion for your house has consumed me,
and the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.
I cried and fasted, but I was insulted for it.
I dressed myself in sackcloth, but I became the object of ridicule.
Those who sit at the gate gossip about me,
and drunkards make up songs about me” (Psalm 69:7-12 God’s Word ©).
Jesus never said following would be a cake walk. Instead, the promise holds as, “Come to me, all who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Place my yoke over your shoulders, and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble. Then you will find rest for yourselves because my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30 God’s Word ©).
I have to remember this in any part of my journey through life.
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This Lent I am being led on a pilgrimage. I do not yet know if it is from persecution or to suffering or through both. Nevertheless the journey has begun.
March 23, 2014
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