The woman said to Him,
"Sir, You have nothing to draw [water] with, and the well is deep."
—John 4:11
{CHAMBERS} “Have you ever said to yourself, “I am impressed with the
wonderful truths of God’s Word, but He can’t really expect me to live up to
that and work all those details into my life!” […] We think His ideals are
lofty and they impress us, but we believe He is not in touch with reality— that
what He says cannot actually be done. […] While we talk of our dealings with
Him, others ask us, “Where are you going to get enough money to live? How will
you live and who will take care of you?” Or our misgivings begin within
ourselves when we tell Jesus that our circumstances are just a little too
difficult for Him. We say, “It’s easy to say, ‘Trust in the Lord,’ but a person
has to live; and besides, Jesus has nothing with which to draw water— no means
to be able to give us these things.” […] My misgivings arise from the fact that
I search within to find how He will do what He says. My doubts spring from the
depths of my own inferiority.”
{ELGIN} You may recall, from
grade school history classes, there was a man, Thomas Paine, who wrote the pamphlet
“Common Sense” during the Revolutionary War.
In the pamphlet he wrote about “summer soldiers … sunshine patriots”. Men
who would serve their country when the war is easy and the odds look good. He believed
that a soldier should focus on the goal no matter how hard it is to reach. The
summer soldier and sunshine patriot is a man who would fight for his country as
long as what they are trying to achieve is easy, and can be done without loss.
Paul wrote to Timothy (2 Timothy 2:3-10) “Join with me in
suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier
gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding
officer. Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the
victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules. The hardworking
farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. Reflect on what I
am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this. Remember Jesus
Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, for
which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But
God’s word is not chained. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the
elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with
eternal glory.”
Those revolutionary soldiers
faced great hardships .. not only battles, but living conditions. As Christians, we have and will continue to face
many trials – hardships – emotional – physical – financial in this life. As you well know, we are not impervious to
the calamities of life. But, we can
prevail by faith. Our faith is tested in
difficult times. The temptation is to
lose confidence in God’s sovereignty and His willingness to care for us. The reason, I think, is because the thing that
we are in fear of losing, or have already lost, we love more than we love God. We say we love Jesus, that we love God the
Father (Matthew 22:37) but not as
much as we say we do. When the test
comes … it reveals our devotion. (2 Corinthians 4:8-10) “We are hard
pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted,
but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in
our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in
our body.”
Do want to overcome your hardships?
Then let this be your attitude, knowing that this attitude will be a result of
your devotion and dependence upon God and not merely a decision to try harder
next time. (Philippians 3:7-8) “But
what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I
also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as
rubbish, that I may gain Christ”
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