Do you ever wonder why there seems to be an
ever-increasing level of stress and pressure in your life? I do.
In fact I’ve coined a new term for this condition – I call it “stressure.” I don’t always know what causes it, and I
don’t always know where to find relief from it.
But I do know God allows it in my life, and therefore, there must be a
reason and a purpose for it.
In my opinion, one of the most amazing
passages in the scriptures is Hebrew 5:5-8.
When we study and appreciate these verses, they will generate a deep
sense of awe and reverence for the Lord Jesus Christ, and it will help us
better understand the will of God in this stressure we’re experiencing. It says:
“So also
Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest…Who, in the days of His
flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries
and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of
His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things
which He suffered.”
Jesus humbled Himself that He might become
our High Priest. He glorified God by receiving His sufferings willingly and
submitting His will to His Father. What
a remarkable relationship they shared - so much so that the death of the Son
brought glory and praise to the Father.
Could the Lord be calling us to die to ourselves as Jesus did? Perhaps the Lord allows just enough stressure
in our lives to drive us to our knees with tears and cries of brokenness and
submission. It may feel like defeat, but
the child of God prays to our Father who is able to save us from death and
bring joy for every tear we shed. And
truly, the Lord is glorified by the wonderful service you render to Him and the
saints in spite your sufferings!
Another astonishing phrase in this passage
is:
“…though He was a Son, yet He learned
obedience by the things He suffered.”
It never dawned on me that Jesus had things
to learn. I always assumed because He
was God in flesh, He knew everything.
Yet the scriptures teach He emptied Himself of the privileges of His
deity, and became like us in every way, yet without sin (Philippians 2:5-11).
Jesus humbled Himself to the lowly status of a child, student, and servant –
and the method the Father used to train and mature Him was suffering. Only then was He able to receive the mantle
of High Priest, which was the Father’s purpose for Him.
I point these things out that we might
realize the marvelous hand of God in our lives even in things that hurt and
things we don’t like or understand. When
we begin to view our sufferings in light the eternal weight of glory God has
for us, we are able to endure them with a joy that confounds the world around
us. Most importantly, we give pleasure and glory to God when we trust Him with
our lives through every season and circumstance. So smile – the more stressure the more proud
the Father is when we humble ourselves, and the more it makes us like Jesus!
Love and blessings,
Pastor
Eric
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