TODAY’S SIGNATURE VERSE ••• For consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, so that you won’t grow weary and give up.In struggling against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. (Hebrews 12:3-4 CSB)
PRAISE & PRAYER PROMPT ••• Because I love history, I tend to look at historical events from the inquisitive perspective and wonder how I would have done in their situation. More recently, I’ve wondered what they would make of ours. About ten years ago, I interviewed a woman in my community who had lived here through the Great Depression. And I asked her — would my generation survive what you went through? She laughed and said, “No. This generation does not know what it’s like to do without, and they’ve let so many skills go, they wouldn’t know where to start.” As we’ve been in a season of COVID-19 for however many months, I have revisited this long-ago conversation. I’ve thought about the many sewing machines that have been dusted off as people learned to make masks for themselves and friends. I can’t sew more than a button or a straight line myself, but I do know how to knit. And I know how to spin my own yarn, though my spinning wheel needs some new parts. While my spinning wheel is currently out of commission, I have a few drop spindles which also make yarn. I could spin some yarn, and knit a mask. (No comments on effectiveness. We’re not going there.)
I bring all this up because sometimes, we tend to think no one understands what we’re going through. Sometimes we think no one will ever understand. No one else could bear what we are suffering. This is a hard time. The one positive I’ve seen in all of this is that across the board, everyone agrees — 2020 stinks.
But I read a passage from Hebrews yesterday that kind of stopped me from thinking about all OUR hardships and pointed it all back to Jesus. I’m using the CSB translation today; Hebrews 12:3-4 says, “For consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, so that you won’t grow weary and give up.In struggling against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” This passage comes from a section of Hebrews titled “Do Not Grow Weary.” The author of Hebrews was encouraging the readers to not give up through seasons of discipline or when things feel overwhelming and tiresome.
But these verses also reminded me that this is a season. There have been far worse things that have happened. There are far worse things that are coming. But the worst moment in the history of humanity was when mankind nailed our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to the cross. We did. We may not have been present at that moment, but collectively, we are sinners, and it was the “hostility from sinners” that nailed Him there. But it wasn’t what held Him there — that was love.
The worst day in human history was also the best day, though. It was the day that Jesus’ blood was shed for our sins. And when we think of the gift of salvation and what it means for all eternity, this season of COVID pales in comparison. It’s hard, yes. But Someone else endured much more.
You may think, “Duh, Denise… Of course Jesus being on the cross was worse….” Maybe it’s an extreme comparison. But we’re not bleeding for anyone else. We’re not dealing with the most horrific death and torture on behalf of anyone else.
Our trials look pretty pale in comparison to what Jesus went through for us. It’s all about keeping things in perspective.
Y’all, I’m going to wrap up, but I want to add something before I go to the prayer portion of the Praise & Prayer Prompt. This blog is multi-dimensional for me. I use it to write about Jesus and, hopefully, share Him with others. But as the name implies, it’s largely about my journey. It’s My Grace-Full Life. So in that sense, it’s a bit of a personal journal too… A journal that sometimes rambles, and I wonder if anyone will make sense of it, but I’m willing to share with whoever wants to read it. Because of that, there’s never any particular rhyme or reason for the order of my topics, with the rare exception of a series I may get inspired to write. But I pray every day that the Lord will use this and help me grow and that perhaps, someone else will benefit from it too. But this is part of my personal Bible study and part of my spiritual growth. I’m happy to share it with you and appreciate your encouragement and support. But please remember – I have never claimed to be a theologian. I haven’t been to seminary. I grew up in church and went to a Christian school. But I also spent 18+ years NOT going to church. I’m a recovered prodigal that is working hard to catch up on all the years I wasted away from Jesus. Don’t misunderstand – I’m not trying to earn anything because I know I can’t, and I also know I’m forgiven. But I see over half my life as a complete waste because nothing is better than living for Jesus. All that said – what I write is not going to be perfect because it’s not the inspired Word of God, though I do pray for God to direct my words. There are so many ways in which the Bible speaks to us; some facets speak louder than others, depending on what God is telling us. Anyway, I just felt compelled to write this. My testimony is on my website if you want to read it.
Today, as you pray, thank God for perspective. Thank Him that as hard as this season may be, Jesus suffered far worse, and He did it out of love. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you to trust and remember that something better waits for us.
SHARING ••• My Grace-Full Life is written by Denise Heidel. You are welcome to share anything I write, but please credit my writing and graphics accordingly. Visit www.MyGraceFullLife.com to read past blogs. Subscribe through my website to have My Grace-Full Life delivered to your email. You can unsubscribe at any time. Unless noted otherwise, all Scripture references are from the ESV translation.
