As they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon…, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus. — Luke 23:26
If
we obey God, it is going to cost other people more than it costs us,
and that is where the pain begins.
If
we are in love with our Lord, obedience does not cost us anything—
it is a delight. But to those who do not love Him, our obedience does
cost a great deal. If we obey God, it will mean that other people’s
plans are upset. They will ridicule us as if to say, “You call this
Christianity?” We could prevent the suffering, but not if we are
obedient to God. We must let the cost be paid.
When
our obedience begins to cost others, our human pride entrenches
itself and we say, “I will never accept anything from anyone.”
But we must, or disobey God. We have no right to think that the type
of relationships we have with others should be any different from
those the Lord Himself had (see Luke 8:1-3).
A
lack of progress in our spiritual life results when we try to bear
all the costs ourselves. And actually, we cannot. Because we are so
involved in the universal purposes of God, others are immediately
affected by our obedience to Him. Will we remain faithful in our
obedience to God and be willing to suffer the humiliation of refusing
to be independent? Or will we do just the opposite and say, “I will
not cause other people to suffer”? We can disobey God if we choose,
and it will bring immediate relief to the situation, but it will
grieve our Lord. If, however, we obey God, He will care for those who
have suffered the consequences of our obedience. We must simply obey
and leave all the consequences with Him.
Beware
of the inclination to dictate to God what consequences you would
allow as a condition of your obedience to Him.
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Blessings.......