Psalm 145: 1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13-14 (Read)
“The Lord lifts up all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down.”
We may question why God allows us to suffer,
why he allows bad things to happen to good people.
We may ask, as the early believers probably did,
“Why is it necessary to undergo such hardships
to enter the kingdom of God?”
Scripture tells us that afflictions are to be expected
in our walk with the Lord. We may not understand
what God is up to, but we can be sure that our faith
will be strengthened if we stand fast in the face of
suffering. We will become better witnesses for Christ
if we are humbled; we become better servants
if we bear up with our difficulties and trust in the Lord,
as our psalmist tells us.
And as the Gospel says, we are raised up by getting
'yoked to Jesus.' That is how our burdens are made light,
by helping Jesus to carry His cross, as Simon did that day
on the road to Calvary. Despite what we may think,
"His yoke is easy and His burden light."
Remember that endurance is a Godly quality and will
help us to get yoked to Jesus. Having done that, we,
like our psalmist David, join with the faithful and
speak of the glory of God's reign and bless his name.
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. Our psalmist assures us that the Lord will lift us up
when we are falling. Speak of a time when you have
undergone hardship and how your faith has been strengthened.
2. The Psalm says that the Lord is "good to all and
compassionate toward all his works." Tell how this verse
inspires you to be more compassionate toward those in
your life who may not always be lovable in your sight.
Why is it necessary to undergo such hardships to enter the Kingdom of God? Even though sometimes our hardships seem more than we can bear, the sufferings and difficulties of life and our afflictions will make us humbled and we will become better witnesses for Christ. If we endure our difficulties and trust in God, He is able to lift us up, and He makes our burdens light to carry. At the same time our faith will be strengthened. He is righteous and loving. He hears our cries when we stand at the edge of a dangerous cliff.
ReplyDeleteI would like to share with you a disturbing incident in my past. Whether or not another person is a good Christian, when it comes to money matters, people act totally differently. It made me sick. I was shocked. I was bewildered and devastated by the thought that someone whom I trusted took me for granted. I allowed her to take advantage of me all these years. Accordingly I suffered from the consequences.
I was praying about the situation one day and moaning to God how unfair it was. I finally laid down this unfair situation about money at the feet of Jesus Christ. All of a sudden I heard a voice saying, "All your money you have now is not yours, but mine." The money I lost originally belonged to someone else (to God). I was so greedy that God took it away from me. He gave it to another. I came to realize that it was God's intention. I experienced God's teaching, "His yoke is easy and His burden light." I felt free. My heavy burden on my shoulders has lifted. Instead of condemning her I started to pray for her. I give the praise to God.