I definitely have my days or moments where life seems too much. I love the fact that the Bible portrays this as a rather common experience. Sometimes I wonder if I'm crazy for the hard moments. But then I remember I'm following in the footsteps of saints who have experienced similar struggles and it keeps me going. God's plan is to pull me through those times:
God, Just Make it all Stop!!! You were not the first to pray this prayer. Did you know that there were at least five Bible characters who told God it would be better for Him to just end their lives now if their current situations weren’t changing anytime soon!
Elijah has just called down fire from heaven and made one of those legendary stands for the Lord. Afterwards, in the loneliness of being overwhelmed and attacked he says, “I have had enough, LORD… Take my life”(1 Kings 19:4). Jonah gets so frustrated in the aftereffects of saving a whole nation that he says not once but twice, “O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live” (Jonah 4:3,8). Moses is carrying the burden of the Israelites grumbling and says to God, “If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now” (Numbers 11:15). Job. Good ol’ Job. Talk about being alone. Everything is going wrong and even his best friends and wife are giving him bad advice. You know he’s not happy when he says, “…I prefer strangling and death, rather than this body of mine. I despise my life” (Job 7:15-16). Last but not least, Jeremiah preaches God’s message for twenty-three years, twenty-three years, with no visible results (Jeremiah 25:3)!!! In the midst of this trial he said, “Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me not be blessed! …Why did I ever come out of the womb to see trouble and sorrow and to end my days in shame?” (Jeremiah 20:14,18). If you have ever felt this way, then you are in good company.
Elijah, Jonah, Moses, Job, Jeremiah… these are not obscure characters! These are God’s faithful men feeling alone and ready to quit. Yet God answered and was faithful to each one of them until the end, “for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again…” (Proverbs 24:16a). “…we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved” (Hebrews 10:39). You are not alone and God will answer and pull you through. God won’t give up. That is why we are thankful that He is the God of us those who want to give up.
2 comments:
This was so encouraging for me to read right now. Thank you so much for this true reminder. Crazy to think we were in NZ driving in the previa over two years ago!!!!
Leslie! it is crazy that we met two years ago in NZ. I was so jealous of your husband's surfing skillz and i'm glad to hear you're going strong. How is life in Cali? I am actually planning on trying to come through CA this summer for a week!
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