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RFC Region 3 Women’s Devotional – March, 2010
Fix Your Eyes on Jesus
In September 2008, my mom was taken home to be with the
Lord. It was unexpected in the sense that we didn’t know mom would be going
home for only eight days before the Lord took her. I am pretty certain that
all of you have experienced great loss at some point in your journey through
life. Maybe through the death of a loved one, divorce, illness,
estrangement from a loved one, or a host of other reasons, all of which can
result in a deep sense of despair.
Mom had been brought home from the hospital on hospice
care. After several sleepless nights and in the face of indescribable loss, I
was physically and emotionally worn. Too, I was in a state of grief unlike
any that I had ever before experienced. While I knew that God was
present, it seemed as if He were far, far away. I longed to ‘feel’ His
presence. The need I had for Him to comfort me was so tremendous that even
now, I can physically sense how much I hungered for His touch.
It was a Wednesday morning, sunny and warm, day five of
our last eight with mom. I took my Bible and my journal out on the patio,
with nothing more than the hope that He just reach out and comfort me. There
I sat, weeping. After a while, I mindlessly opened my Bible and my eyes fell
upon John 16:16. “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after
a little while you will see Me.” [NIV]. I read on through those passages of
scripture in John 16 and the Lord began lifting the weight of my sorrow,
embracing me with a love that only God is able, in John 16:22; “So with you:
Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and
no one will take away your joy.” [NIV] In those moments, I experienced the
deep compassion of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit revealed to me that the
road was not going to be easy, but indeed, His burden is light. [MT
11:28-30] He enhanced my spiritual understanding of how only our Heavenly
Father can meet all of our needs in ways no one else can. This was
significant and, I believe, an integral part of this message that the Holy
Spirit wants revealed.
How often do we look to others to fulfill some need that
we have when we should be seeking God? Do we stop and consider that the
persons to whom we are looking to meet our needs are not able? How often do
we accept from God the knowledge He has given us in His Word, that His grace
is sufficient? II Corinthians 12:9 says, “But he said to me, [speaking to
Paul], “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in
weakness.” [NIV].
On that morning in September, as my precious mother was
slipping away, I knew that no human being could begin to understand what I
was feeling. Yes, others had lost loved ones, but just as each of us are
‘‘fearfully and wonderfully made” (Ps. 139:14), so to, are our experiences as
unique. Too, I was aware that no one could ease my burden in the way my
Jesus just had. This is what the “Women of Faith Study Bible” [NIV, 2001],
says about laying our burdens on Christ. The invitation to lay heavy burdens
on Jesus is recorded only in the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus invites not the
“wise and learned” (Mt. 11:25), but the “weary and burdened” (Mt. 11:28).
Weary in this context, refers to being tired from difficult struggling or
labor; burden carries the concept of a beast weighted down with a heavy
load. Jesus’ yoke is a metaphor for the discipline of discipleship. Farmers
use yokes to harness their cattle together for work, easing the load for each
beast. Jesus is gentle and humble and will not give his followers any burden
heavier than they can carry.
Now, I look to God more and more, even for the seemingly
small things in life. Like helping me to find my mother’s glove that
disappeared over a week ago. I always feel closer to her when I have
something of hers close to me; and when I couldn’t find her glove I was
unsettled. Rather than throwing away the one remaining glove (which is my
nature), now and again I would remind Him that it was a desire of my heart
for the missing glove to be found.
Just before sitting down to write this morning I was
hanging some laundry. As I turned to hang the first item, there was my
mother’s black leather glove dangling from the line. I had forgotten that on
a cold snowy morning more than a week past I had dropped her glove in the
driveway as I was getting out of the car. “Thank You God”, I said out loud,
as I retrieved the glove from the line. It was one of those treasured
moments when one is so keenly aware of just how real, how big; and how wide
and deep is His love.
No matter what your burden, be encouraged and keep your
eyes fixed on Him, just as He instructs us in Hebrews, 12:1-3 [NIV]. “1Therefore,
since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off
everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run
with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes
on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before
him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of
the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from
sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
As we approach Easter, I pray that each of us will take
time to meditate on how our Heavenly Father longs for our attention. So much
so, that He sacrificed His only Son, that we might be drawn unto Him.
Chaplain Terri Roche
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