How we admire the obedience a dog shows to its master! Archibald Rutledge wrote that one day he met a man whose dog had just been killed in a forest fire. Heartbroken, the man explained to Rutledge how it happened.
Because he worked out-of-doors, he often took his dog with him. That morning, he left the animal in a clearing and gave him a command to stay and watch his lunch bucket while he went into the forest. His faithful friend understood, for that’s exactly what he did.
Then a fire started in the woods, and soon the blaze spread to the spot where the dog had been left. But he didn’t move. He stayed right where he was, in perfect obedience to his master’s word. With tearful eyes, the dog’s owner said, “I always had to be careful what I told him to do, because I knew he would do it.” Our Daily Bread.
One of the many misconceptions we have is that as long as we are born again and we are doing the will of God, then He will not allow us to go through pain and hardship. We equate pain and hardship as a sign that the Good Lord has rejected us or that we have done something that has not pleased Him but that is not necessarily the case.
Jesus is our perfect example. He was without sin and in the perfect will of God the father yet he went through so much pain which led to His death. He was obedient even unto death.
Because we are using Jesus as an example many may say that He had it easier because He is the son of God. Just like us, He had a choice to obey or not to obey. We see Him struggling in the garden just before he went to the cross.
Luke 22:42 (AMP) saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup [of divine wrath]from Me; yet not My will, but [always] Yours be done.”
If it were up to Him at that point, He would have chosen another way but God’s way was for Jesus to go through the pain and eventually die so that you and i can be saved.Our faith has to be tested and that sometimes means that God will allow us to go through pain and suffering to test the quality of our faith just like Gold is purified through the fire.
1 Peter 4:12-14 (AMP) Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal which is taking place to test you [that is, to test the quality of your faith], as though something strange or unusual were happening to you. But insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, keep on rejoicing, so that when His glory [filled with His radiance and splendor] is revealed, you may rejoice with great joy.
Have you been struggling to obey God’s will in your life because it leads down the road of pain and hurt? One thing I know is this; it is not in vain to walk the road of obedience to God when it leads to pain because after the pain, the Lord will exalt you. Jesus was exalted because he obeyed even in the midst of pain. Joseph, job and many other servants of God who stayed obedient in the midst of pain and rejection were also exalted.
Romans 8:18 (AMP) For I consider [from the standpoint of faith] that the sufferings of the present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us.
Stay faithful to His will even in the midst of pain anguish and rejection, He remains faithful!
Philippians 2:8 (AMP)
After He was found in [terms of His] outward appearance as a man [for a divinely-appointed time], He humbled Himself [still further] by becoming obedient [to the Father] to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Word For Today: Obedience in the midst of pain.
