Week Sixteen - But I Don't Want To

Like a child whose had enough, sometimes we reach a point where we "just don't want to" anymore, don't we? I think you'd agree that none of us enjoy the trials of life. And when someone says, "This trial will make you stronger," or "Count this trial a blessing," we cringe. We don't want to grow that way or look to see some distant blessing. We just want the pain to stop.

I've been reading a series of devotions on the cross, and the idea of suffering is oft repeated. Indeed, our Saviour suffered. Easter proves that in a most poignant manner. And while we read of His suffering and know He purchased salvation for us by His sacrifice, we too quickly turn away when suffering becomes the call of our life. 

Scripture teaches that we will be partakers in His suffering. Partaker is a word I have noticed in my Bible reading. One day I'll record what I've been meditating on, but today my question is, "How can we endure trials when we don't want to, when the path looks too dark and hopeless, and our strength is small?

Dear friend, we've all been there. And though fear and weariness pervade and the road grows long, as we look to the cross, there is strength and comfort in His sacrificial example. At the cross, we find each drop of blood "capable of alleviating the woes of humankind." In the expression of God's love through Calvary, the soul is penetrated with hope. Spurgeon said, "Those who would know love, go to Calvary and see the Man of sorrows die."

Love is what we need when we face trials. Love that understands. Love that walks beside us and love that will carry us through. Inside this love, we find compassion and sympathy - the sympathy of Christ becomes our sustaining power, "One of the early martyrs said, 'I can bear it all, for Jesus suffered, and He suffers in me now; He sympathizes with me, and this makes me strong.' 

I find great comfort in Jesus' Gethsemane prayer. Matthew 26:39 reads, "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt."  "If it be possible," Jesus prayed. I hear Jesus saying, "If we could do this any other way, God?" Or, "I know what I'm facing, and I'd rather not - but..." And there is the secret. We, like Jesus, might be fearful of the trail ahead. But we choose, just as Jesus did, to trust and obey. We want to be found faithful, so we yield. And why? Because we know that every trial is laced with God's perfect love.

I used to tell my little daughter, "Sometimes we have to do things we don't want to do." And you know what? I find the burden lighter whenever I remind myself of that truth and keep moving forward by faith. As a result, I have renewed strength for the journey, and I see God's hand of blessing around me.

So, dear friend, pick up your cross and follow the one who went before you. "Consider him," Hebrews 12:3 says. "Consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds." And I love verse four, "Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin." I am not enduring Calvary or shedding my blood, so let me see my trial from God's perspective.

1 Peter 4:12, 13 reads, "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy."  And there is that word again - partaker. I want to be a partaker with Him. Don't you? And why? Because there is glory, joy, and gladness on that path. And as Spurgeon said, "The jewels of a Christian are his sufferings.

So, when we face unwanted trials, we best place our eyes on Calvary and keep walking by faith. Sometimes we have to do things we don't want to do.