persevering

Hi, guys!  I’ve been sick this week and haven’t felt like posting…or doing much of anything, really.  Here’s some encouragement I gained from the Scriptures today, though. 

I was reading Mark, chapter 6.  The difficulties stood out to me.  The difficulties faced by followers of God.  The chapter starts with Christ being rejected by the town he had grown up in (just imagine if Carrie Underwood received no rowdy welcomes when she came home to Checotah.  No proud support either.)  Then He sends forth the twelve Disciples and tells them to take “nothing for the journey except a staff–no bread, no bag, no money” (v. 8).  Essentially, they were supposed to rely solely on God’s ability to provide–which he always did, as we read later in the NT. 

After this solemn start, there is a drastic jolt to the extreme test of faith–death for no reason besides one’s religious persuasion.  John the Baptist, who had been quite a celebrity in his time, was beheaded.  He was innocent and popular, but neither of these things could save him from death for God’s glory (and I’m sure he accepted his martyrdom with great pleasure!). 

Then, we go back to the Disciples who have been working so hard for the Cause that they have had little or no time to rest and eat.  They are exhausted and famished.  But, as Jesus is taking them to “a quiet place” (v. 31), they find themselves accosted by the needy–more than 5,000, to be exact!  And, of course, Christ welcomes these lost souls as a shepherd would his sheep (v. 34).  The disciples find a good excuse to dismiss the people, and Christ comes back with what could be considered a subtle rebuttal.  I’ve been tired and hungry after a long day’s work.  I’ve been discouraged.  I’ve been at that point before when I really don’t care about the Kingdom of God anymore and just want to take care of myself. 

Lately, in fact, I have been very preoccupied with myself.  As I said, I’ve had a cold, and I have not worried too much about how I was acting and speaking to those around me.  I don’t want to have a big, old confessional here (!!!), I’m just trying to use myself as a modern example that compares with this passage.  The really neat thing, however, is that Christ did not leave His disciples unfed or uncared for.  His miracle of causing the meager lunch of the Disciples to be enough for the multitude (and the Disciples) is famous the world over.  And it is one that we can take to heart as an encouragement.  God may not take you or me out of our positions as servants, even when we’re dead tired, but He will always provide us with what we need to keep going!

Take heart, HE is there to lift YOU up when you cannot walk alone!

stephen

“When you need Him, wherever in your life you need Him, however you need Him, in the place that you need Him, at any time that you need Him, He will be there!” -Dennis Chamberland