Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath Pileser king of Assyria, and saw the altar that was at Damascus; and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest a drawing of the altar and plans to build it. Urijah the priest built an altar. According to all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, so Urijah the priest made it for the coming of King Ahaz from Damascus. When the king had come from Damascus, the king saw the altar; and the king came near to the altar, and offered on it. He burned his burnt offering and his meal offering, poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings on the altar. The bronze altar, which was before Yahweh, he brought from the front of the house, from between his altar and Yahweh’s house, and put it on the north side of his altar. King Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, “On the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, the evening meal offering, the king’s burnt offering and his meal offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, their meal offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice; but the bronze altar will be for me to inquire by.” Urijah the priest did so, according to all that King Ahaz commanded.”
(2 Kings 16:10-16)

“They came to a place which was named Gethsemane. He said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took with him Peter, James, and John, and began to be greatly troubled and distressed. He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch.” He went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass away from him. He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Please remove this cup from me. However, not what I desire, but what you desire.” He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn’t you watch one hour? Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. Again he returned and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they didn’t know what to answer him. He came the third time and said to them, “Sleep on now, and take your rest. It is enough. The hour has come. Behold, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Arise! Let’s get going. Behold, he who betrays me is at hand.””
(Mark 14:32-42)

“But to you, Yahweh, I have cried.
    In the morning, my prayer comes before you.
Yahweh, why do you reject my soul?
    Why do you hide your face from me?
I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up.
    While I suffer your terrors, I am distracted.
Your fierce wrath has gone over me.
    Your terrors have cut me off.
They came around me like water all day long.
    They completely engulfed me.
You have put lover and friend far from me,
    and my friends into darkness.”
(Psalm 88:13-18)

King Ahaz wanted to do it HIS way. He didn’t follow after Yahweh. He didn’t obey God’s commandments. He didn’t lead his people in godly things. He did things his way, followed ungodly examples, and worshipped in absolutely horrible ways. He literally murdered his child, burning it alive, as a sacrifice to an idol. He participated in all the things that the people the Land rejected participated in. The result? A distressed kingdom. A kingdom of strife. Constantly being attacked and pricked by all those around them. Not a great way to live. But he was unwilling to submit and continued to do wrong no matter what happened. And in doing so brought down many of those around himself.

Jesus did not WANT to suffer in order to suffer. His flesh rejected the idea. His mind wasn’t thrilled about it. First, no one wants to suffer bodily harm and Jesus was facing some horrific treatment. Worse, Jesus did not have a sinful nature. He had never sinned. EVER. He had never been separated from His Father. He was perfectly united with Holy Spirit. He struggled with the same things we did physically and mentally, but spiritually He was pure, energized, and living the way humanity was always meant to live. But to be obedient, He would need to submit to a separation. He would have to BECOME sin. To have all of that death inside Himself. To know what He had never known. Spiritually, Jesus rejoiced at the chance because of what it would mean to us on the other side. But physically and mentally, He had to force Himself to submit. He didn’t WANT to, but He OBEYED. He did NOT rebel. He did NOT do it His own way. He did NOT take the suggestions of the devil. He did NOT reject what He faced. He OBEYED. Because of that, even though it was indescribably awful, He learned and walked in the obedient love of a faithful son.

When we reject the Lord, sooner or later we get what we are determined to experience: separation. Separation from God is something no human experiences in life. There are degrees of closeness, but He never leaves us. Never forsakes us. Never abandons us. He upholds us, sends us good things, and loves on us. But when we reject Him, we walk into the weeds. We limit what He can do as a just God who respects our free will. There is always a moment when we get to see the reality of the situation. When we look around and realise that we are NOT where we should be. We are NOT experiencing what we should be experiencing. And that we are FAR from God and His righteousness. When we do, and if we repent and cry out to Him, He will be faithful to guide us through that process and help us come into alignment with Him again. Not OUR will, but HIS.

Summary

Suffering is in this world because this world is fallen. Suffering is in this world because we have free choice and can choose the evil, ungodly option. Suffering is in this world because sin and death are in this world. There are things we are called to walk through that are not pleasant. Jesus warned us the wicked would seek to persecute us simply because we lift up His name. None of the negative things, feelings, and situations are pleasant. But we aren’t to do this OUR way. We are to humbly submit and do things HIS way. It doesn’t ELIMINATE suffering, but it gives us PERSPECTIVE on suffering which makes it sufferable. We endure in Jesus because Jesus endured. We overcome in Jesus because Jesus overcame. On our own we fail. But in Him we have NOTHING but success.