Day 38--Praise Him in the Storm!

'Sing to Yahweh, praise Yahweh, for he has delivered the soul of one in need from the clutches of evil doers.'

JEREMIAH 20:13

The world won't like it when you follow the Lord, when you refuse to do things that everyone else seems to be doing. But take courage! You have your own personal superhero: God himself. When people want to harm you, when you are persecuted because of the Gospel, remember that the Lord won't give you more than you can take--and yes, He will allow these things to happen--such is life--but hang on to Him with all your strength and He will get you through. He will deliver you in His own time. DO NOT LET GO. Sometimes it feels like it would be easier and more convenient to just forget about God and live a 'normal' life in the world. In fact, there are 'Christians' out there that will tell you God wants you to have everything you ever wanted--money, prestige, fame--and that if you don't have it then you must be doing something wrong or your relationship with Christ is not real. Well, newsflash: that's not what Jesus said. Jesus said to us 'if you want to follow me, you must take up your cross!' Now, who wants to do that when the world is so much more luring and comfortable (at first glance)? Who wants to take on unnecessary suffering just to be in the way with Christ? 

Well, no one does it out of sheer pleasure. Do you really think Jesus thought 'YAAAAAAAY, CRUCIFIXION!!!'? He went through with it out of love for us, not because it seemed fun or awesome to do it. And the thing is, once you have a profound experience of the love of Christ and initiate a relationship with Him, you can't help but to love Him and you can't see a life without Him. So you will take up your cross and follow. It might not be the path to riches and fame, but it will be the path that will satisfy the deepest desires of your soul. Besides, life will have challenges anyway, so why not go through it with the hope that at the end of it you get to be welcomed into heaven by your lover, your best friend, Jesus.

So, if you are in a very difficult situation at the moment, trust that He will get you through, sing and exalt His name for He is good.