On This Day: To Dare God from a Miserable Soul

 And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.” (Matthew 20:17-19) 

   If ever I began a day needing to tell God how I was feeling, it was this morning. And I didn’t even need to belabor the point, but simply to admit that my soul was weary and overwhelmed. In fact, it almost felt like I was daring God to speak to me because it felt impossible for me to hear his voice. 

   Here’s how God used the Scripture to return me to joy: 

    1.     The fact that we are directed to Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem when his next stop was Jericho helps me see how God prepares us for difficult things long before we get to them.

    2.    The way he “took the twelve aside” to speak exactly what they needed to hear for themselves suddenly ministered to my heart that this is what he does with me every morning.

    3.    When I see the way Jesus prepared his disciples for the cross, I am amazed at his compassion for his disciples.

    4.    But when I see his emphasis on his resurrection, I realize that this is the ultimate return to joy. 

   I know we must deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow our Savior wherever he leads, but the resurrection has given me a living Savior now, and the assurance of my resurrection from the dead into the fullness of eternal life. 

   There was so much more, and the feelings travelled much Deeper and Higher than words can explain, but anyone who meets with God every morning, beginning the day by admitting how we are doing, will hear God speak through his word, will recognize what God is doing in us, and will see something of how God is inviting us to join him in his work. And for me, that includes telling you how our Father in heaven returned my miserable soul to joy this morning so I can walk today in the newness of my life in Jesus Christ my Lord.

 

© 2024 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)