Thinking #5—Invigorating Thinking

Consider him who has endured such hostility by sinners against himself, so that you may not grow weary in your souls and give up. Hebrews 12:3

Because we all want to belong and to be loved, experiencing hostility is particularly trying. It depletes our energy. We see the animosity of family and colleagues as life-threatening. How can we live if those we see every day do not have our best interests in mind? So we think about forsaking the fellowship of God—whom we cannot see—and the promise of eternal joy in fellowship with him for the momentary pleasures of comfort and human companionship. We are not the first to feel this way. Jesus struggled with this too. When almost everyone around him contradicted the truth he spoke and opposed his purpose, how did he keep from becoming weary enough to quit? He remembered his Father was using this antipathy to strengthen his desire for the goodness of the age to come. He did not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord. Rather he saw it as necessary to produce in him the strongest possible delight in what God set before him. Thinking about the Father’s presence and purpose in the midst of his pain kept him from giving up. He also remembered that God judges justly and rewards those who remain true to their covenant with him. Jesus endured infinitely more hostile rejection than we will; so imitating Jesus’ mental and spiritual processes will enable us to persevere in our faith as well.

Perfect Father, when I feel so weary, cause me to remember the faithfulness to Jesus you exhibited by raising him from the dead, so I can follow him in the obedience of faith.