For those who feel their lives are a grave disappointment to God, it requires enormous trust and reckless, raging confidence to accept that the love of Jesus Christ knows no shadow of alteration or change. When Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy burdened,” He assumed we would grow weary, discouraged, and disheartened along the way. These words are a touching testimony to the genuine humanness of Jesus. He had no romantic notion of the cost of discipleship. He knew that following Him was as unsentimental as duty, as demanding as love.
~ Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. Strangers shall stand and tend your flocks; foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers; but you shall be called the priests of the Lord; they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God; you shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their glory you shall boast. Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot; therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; they shall have everlasting joy.
~ Isaiah, speaking of Jesus The Christ, in Isaiah 61
Oh beloved, it is true. We can get tired as we walk along the path He has set before us. However, the issue is much deeper than the need for physical rest. Our thoughts plague us, and our instincts tell us that we are not going to make it. We feel the despair start to settle in.
The reality is, that as fatigue moves in, our flesh will begin looking for outlets as it senses that our spirits our weak. We are in real danger in times like these, and we sometimes give in to the things that have plagued us for years. It may be anything.
Money
Sex
Drugs
Anger
Fear
Doubt
Whatever…
Because it is really not about whether a certain behavior is good or bad. It is rather that a behavior is based on our sliding into the morass of disbelief. And in doing the stupid thing(s) we hurt ourselves and those around us as well.
In doing something stupid, we can find that we will take on an attitude of anger towards ourselves. And this is dangerous. But, to make matters worse, others will do stupid thing(s) to us as well. In fact, they may not be as far down the path as we have come and the edges of their lives may just be a bit rougher than others. So, as they bring us pain, we can reach a place of anger and feeling the injustice of the situation.
And it is here, that we encounter a mortal danger.
Anger, if unresolved, is a stronghold and a gateway to a dark side of spiritual reality. The creators of Star Wars did not come up with the idea of fear leading to anger – and anger to hate. They merely tapped into an eternal truth. However, they did not go far enough in their writings.
Unresolved anger allows a spirit of heaviness to descend upon us. Our anger dulls our hope as we pervert a healthy sense of justice into a self-driven need for self-justification. We see (subconsciously) the futility of the effort, but we keep gnawing at the bone in our soul until we actually rupture something and really begin to do some damage.
Can we see it? We may not, if we have driven past all the warning signs of life. Anger is a really dangerous weapon in our arsenal. The times that it can be used rightly are exceedingly smaller than the times it is used otherwise. And anytime that anger emerges (especially when it emerges wrongly) it must be cast at the feet of Jesus to be used under His Spirit’s control… And to do anything else opens us to dangers in the spiritual realm.
However, when we cast aside our rights to wield such a terrible weapon alone, we do find that we are opening ourselves up to being hurt by others. But now, we have no pre-conceived notions that they won’t and we can fight against the anger of others with the only weapon that will win.
Love.
And in Loving others instead of being upset that they are not loving us properly, we being to function as we have ever been Designed to live. We begin to Love G_d. We begin to Love others. And things begin to change… but most amazingly, what comes off of us (or is actually now repelled from us) is the spirit of fainting, depressing heaviness.
So, are you tired? Be careful. Get some rest, and especially rest in Him. The risk of falling into some bad behavior is only the beginning of your trouble if you don’t. Tonight is your night beloved. Time to live in Love for G_d and other people. Worship Him, and serve others – that you may live light and alive and free.
“Oh, you’re real, you’re real! Oh, Aslan!” cried Lucy, and both girls flung themselves upon him and covered him with kisses. “But what does it all mean?” asked Susan when they were somewhat calmer… “It means,” said Aslan, “that though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backward. And now—”… “Oh yes. Now?” said Lucy, jumping up and clapping her hands… “Oh, children,” said the Lion, “I feel my strength coming back to me. Oh, children, catch me if you can!” He stood for a second, his eyes very bright, his limbs quivering, lashing himself with his tail. Then he made a leap high over their heads and landed on the other side of the Table. Laughing, though she didn’t know why, Lucy scrambled over it to reach him. Aslan leaped again. A mad chase began. Round and round the hilltop he led them, now hopelessly out of their reach, now letting them almost catch his tail, now diving between them, now tossing them in the air with his huge and beautifully velveted paws and catching them again, and now stopping unexpectedly so that all three of them rolled over together in a happy laughing heap of fur and arms and legs. It was such a romp as no one has ever had except in Narnia; and whether it was more like playing with a thunderstorm or playing with a kitten Lucy could never make up her mind.
~ CS Lewis, in The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe
