Beloved: grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am delighted to welcome you to the last week of the month of May 2020. My prayer is that God will strengthen your heart to remain true to Him to the very end, regardless of what men may do against you, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
One of the things we learnt from the earthly life of our Lord Jesus is devotion to God, even in the face of rejection, betrayal and denial of men. Here is One who fully gave Himself to doing the will of God in all things (John 8:29). Yet men, including those who benefited tremendously from His life and ministry, rejected Him. Even those who had the rare privilege of fullying sharing in His great life and ministry, at some point, denied and abandoned Him because of fear. That is besides the fact that it was one of them that betrayed Him and handed Him over to those who wanted to take His life. And he did that out of greed.
Nevertheless, in the face of all these things, our Lord Jesus stayed true to God to the very end. He did not lose His mind because He was ultimately rejected, betrayed, denied and abandoned. Painful as all this might have been, He did not become bitter. Instead, He committed His soul to the One who was able to deliver Him and also asked for forgiveness for all those who treated Him wickedly (Luke 23:34&36). Therefore, God answered His prayers, honoured Him, exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee must bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Phil 2:9-11).
Similarly, Paul the apostle experienced the rejection of his own people, the Jews, even though he had given his entire life to doing the will of God, their God. Not only that, at some point in his life, he was abandoned by many among the people of God, including some of his own ministry associates, people that his life and ministry had been a blessing to. (Cf. 2Tim 1:15-18 & 4:9-10&16) But did he lose his mind because of this and withdraw his devotion to God? No! Or did he become bitter, resentful and malicious because of the rejection and betrayal he had experienced? No!
Instead, Paul cast himself totally on God for safe-keeping and also offered prayers of forgiveness for all the brethren who abandoned him, so that God would not hold it against them. And God answered him and kept him safe to the end of his earthly race. (Cf. 2Tim 4:16-18) This was why he was eventually able to say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day — and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” (2Tim 4:7-8NIV)
So, even if all hell is let loose against you, and you are being rejected, persecuted, abandoned, betrayed or denied by men, including those you love and those who have been blessed by God through your life, don’t lose your mind or throw away your devotion to God. Instead, follow the examples of our Lord Jesus and Paul the apostle by doing what Peter says. And what does he say? He says, “So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.” (1Peter 4:19NIV) Did you see that? If you are suffering while doing the will of God, don’t lose yourself. Instead, commit yourself to your Creator and continue to do good. And at the appropriate time, you will be rewarded for your steadfastness and trueness. May the God of all grace and comfort be with you. Amen.
Do have a great week.
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