I received an email from a woman asking for urgent prayer. A year ago, her husband was offered a post in Cape Town and they upped sticks and relocated. She couldn’t get a transfer and had to resign. After sending out many, many CVs, she still hadn’t gotten a job.

Now her husband had been informed that 26 employees will be retrenched and that he would be out of job by the end of the month. What now?

I had been invited to lead a Bible study for the staff and announcers at the Namibian radio station, Channel 7. I prepared well, but before we started, everybody had a chance to quickly say how things were going.

The stories are not nice. Everybody is struggling somewhere. Covid is the biggest cause. Everyone knows someone who had died from the virus.

I realised that the message I had prepared was not the right one. As one heart-breaking story after the other came over the internet, my message changed to one describing how God is involved in our need right now.

God knows exactly what we are going through. His heart cries tears for the hurt and pain we are experiencing. He cries for each person taken by the virus and who will not come to Him.

Jesus knows exactly what we are going through, because He also experienced bad things while He was here on earth. Very bad things. ²… he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. The pain, when He was hit until He bled. The hurt He saw in the tears of His mother and followers. He experienced each emotion personally.

How could He suffer that? How could He keep on and hold on, even through death? ²Because he never lost sight of where he was headed … he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honour, right alongside God.

We must learn this from Jesus. Because Jesus knew where He was going, because He kept the picture of the end of His journey here on earth in His mind, He could hold on. Because He knew God was waiting for Him and that it would be a celebration, He kept going.

We must also remember that a better season is waiting for us. Maybe not now here on earth, but for sure when we leave this earth. That must be our motivation. That picture should give us strength to push through the difficult parts.

When we focus on Jesus and consider what He had to endure, we also get strength to get up again. Then we are encouraged to try again. It is promised to us:

³When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

Scripture
Hebrews 12:1-3

Reflection
What challenges are you facing?
How do you have to deal with them?
Who are you focused on?

Prayer
Lord Jesus, You went through terrible things and never gave up. Please pull me closer to You and help me keep a clear picture of my future with You in my mind, so that I can keep going. Amen.