As I was reading Luke 4, about the temptation of Satan, a thought crossed my mind. Often a seemingly irrelevant thought will cross my mind when I’m reading scripture.
There is no offence, if we are truly walking, living, to serve Jesus.
That was my thought.
Jesus is love. Serving Him can be hard. But there is no room for offence when we are living to serve Him, because we have surrendered ourselves to Him. When we love Him, we put our own crosses down. We carry His. We are not living martyrs, because we do this by choice. The joy of the Lord is truly our strength, and our own opinions — of ourselves or of anyone — are not for our focus.
Mental health
It is crucial to know ourselves, to defend and protect our emotional health and well-being, but once we are mature enough to recognise our call is to be His servant, our own fears, emotional needs, insecurities and hurts, are underneath that cross. It isn’t by willing this to be true that this comes, but it is by revelation.
I have experienced such a revelation. Life is hard sometimes. Life is also full of of joy. But most of all, life is a choice, an act of surrender to one thing or another: to self, to fame, to luxury, to lust, to wealth… or to Jesus. There is no in-between.
So, now I choose Jesus
I suffer. Sometimes people hurt my feelings or disappoint me. Sometimes I’m brutally hurt, like a bludgeon to my gut. But that is what is to be overcome. Pain is not ignored; I’m not placated, but I overcome: disappointment is processed and stepped over, all on the journey serving Jesus.
Life is a journey and on this journey we make choices. I choose Jesus. It is painful. But now that I’ve had this revelation, I have no other right choice to make.
Jesus didn’t fight
When Jesus was arrested, tried, beaten, crucified, He didn’t fight. He was serving the purposes of the Father.
I may not succeed, but this is my call now, for Jesus.
Blessings,
Sarah