Staying with Jesus as Circumstances Tempt Us to Walk Away

 There is so much pain in this world.  There is so much I don't understand.  Actually, there is so little I do understand.  Wisdom and knowledge escape me.  I feel lost more often that I'd like to admit.  The fear and the worry sometimes become unbearable. My eyes become clouded with the anxiety of what's to come. And...to what avail?  Worry, fear, anxiety never changed anything.  The only thing these emotions accomplish is the disruption of my peace...the distancing from what really matters...the breaking of my relationship with Christ.

Today's post in the devotional My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers posed an intriguing question:  Are we remaining faithful to the Son of God in everything that attacks His life in us?

At first glance I misunderstood the question.  I took it as to mean whether I stay faithful to Jesus in my trials.  Then, I re-read it, as it often happens...and I realized the question is whether I'll stay by Jesus when the world attacks Him and His Presence in my life...That is precisely what's as stake here: Jesus' life in us is being attacked by the things of this world.  The world attacks Jesus' presence in the heart of believers.  The agony of devastating circumstances, the fear of instability, the disappointment of shattered hopes, the loneliness of loss, the panic of death...all these and many, many more situations threaten Jesus' life in us.  They attack the most precious thing we possess: Jesus Presence in our hearts.

Sometimes the knife cuts so deep that our bodily reaction is to want to walk away from the torment of the blade.  But, in doing so...are we walking away from Our Lord too?

I think that's what Chambers meant when he wrote:  

We have the idea that we ought to shield ourselves from some of the things God brings around us. May it never be! It is God who engineers our circumstances, and whatever they may be we must see that we face them while continually abiding with Him in His temptations. They are His temptations, not temptations to us, but temptations to the life of the Son of God in us.

This is how Chambers interprets Luke 22: 28: You are those who have stood by me in my trials. I never saw it that way.  to be honest...I don't think I ever paid much attention to this verse until now.  Jesus uttered these words at the Last Supper.  He tucked them in between Judas and Peter's betrayals...I wonder if He did that, knowing we might be facing chances for betrayal as well.

I am so very weak.  How will I ever be able to stand by Him in His trials, when I can't even recognize them?  I don't know.  All I know is that I must cling to Him with all I've got.  I must stay with Him no matter what.  Even when I have to fight myself and my instincts that push me to walk away, I must remain.  The only place to be is on the Way with Jesus.  Chamber puts it best:

Are you going on with Jesus? The way goes through Gethsemane, through the city gate, and on “outside the camp” (Hebrews 13:13). The way is lonely and goes on until there is no longer even a trace of a footprint to follow— but only the voice saying, “Follow Me” (Matthew 4:19).

May the Holy Spirit give us the stamina to go on with Christ all the days of our lives.  Amen!