The Perfect Storm...

July 5, 2009

Danielle Joyner Kelley

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30.

The idea of Christianity as a “feel good” religion where everything will go “perfectly” once you commit is a common misperception. That misperception is what leads many people to go to church; however, it is also the very idea that will ultimately drive some of them away.

The person who is driven away is frequently the one who buys into the idea of Christianity thinking their life will be perfect. Once they see that things do not work that way, they wonder why the wasted the time. Those walking the Earth today can look around and see that things are not easy, and many actions are never construed as “light”. Many Christians will fall victim to the misperception of a perfect life, and when something bad happens feel as though the rug has been yanked out from under them.

At that moment the enemy seizes the opportunity and shows that person other people around them that seem never to experience the bad things in life. The goal is to get the person to think that one of two things is taking place: either God is punishing them for a wrong they have committed or He does not care about them at all. The person feels isolated and is convinced no one understands their suffering, and for that reason will not turn to others for help. Most important is the fact that they also will no longer turn to God.

The true promise of Christianity is that even when the troubling times occur, we have someone to bear the burden for us. In fact, Jesus Christ has already demonstrated He was willing to take on the burdens of mankind.

He tells us that His “yoke is easy” and His “burden is light”. At the time this was stated, a “yoke” was defined as a Rabbi’s teachings. During Jesus’ time believers in God were Jewish, including Jesus. The Rabbi was the religious teacher. Their teachings or “yokes” were full of laws and rules for the believer to follow.

By the end of the Old Testament, prior to Jesus’ time, God was giving clear indications that people were worried about following the law in His name, but had forgotten to have a relationship with Him. No matter how high you were thought of religiously, and regardless of how many scriptures could be quoted from a person, more was required. Without a relationship with God, those following His law alone would fall into sins of self-righteousness and hypocrisy. “Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.” Matthew 23:1-4.

By the end of the Old Testament, you get the feeling God was about to do something big to change everything. “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” Hosea 6:6.

Beginning in the New Testament, we can see that is exactly what God did. He sent Jesus to Earth to remind those serving God what they had really forgotten, and to offer His life as the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of all mankind, past, present and future. Obeying God’s law required more than just showing up and speaking quotations. Practicing rituals and memorizing scripture was not enough. For many it became a job, and the emotional attachment was missing.

Jesus knew that we should follow the law with a love for God and others in mind. "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22:36-40. Those two come first.

Followers of Jesus and future Christians would accept His teachings and His “yoke”. The problem returns when the believer is convinced that His “yoke” is not “light”. This is where the person finds themselves at the right restaurant to eat, but they are ordering an item that is not on the menu. "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33. The absence of trouble was never a promise of Christianity.

Jesus Himself told us we would have trouble. Throughout the Bible we are also told not to worry and not to fear. If the point of Christianity was to have a easy and perfect life, then God would not need to bother with those words of advice. If everything was going to be wonderful and no one could fall into sin, there would be no need for Him to allow His Son to die. As a Father who encompasses everything perfect Himself, and who cannot be a hypocrite or enjoy pain in any sense, He sent His Son to die a horrible death to show the world the true victory in our alleged defeat.

Those troubles that cause you to be “weary” and feel “burdened” should be brought to Jesus. That “yoke” is about more than rules to live by to carry out God’s law. It is a promise of forgiveness and hope combined with knowledge that you are no longer alone in your troubles. Instead of memorizing the solution, it is actually explained to you.

In His word, God provides us with examples of Jesus helping those who were burdened by trouble. Even Jesus’ own disciples and closest followers’ stories are contained in those examples. Through historical stories of people He told to write His word and through understanding provided by the Holy Spirit, we see life through each sentence, each movement, each doubt, each hope, and each revelation.

Take for example the story where Peter walked on water. Jesus said to Peter, “Come”. Matthew 14:29. Then we are told that through tremendous faith Peter “got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.” Matthew 14:29.

While walking towards Jesus and focusing only on Him his objective faith with no predisposed notions was walking for God. However, the subjective faith of the world hits us with fear and we are told, “But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Matthew 14:30.

At that moment Peter knew he was in trouble and he asked for help. At the moment Peter brought his fear and trouble to Jesus, we are told what Jesus did in return. “Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.” Matthew 14:31. This was a lesson of faith.

The best position to be in is to take on Jesus’ yoke with the knowledge that you will have trouble but with an overwhelming confidence in your faith with hope that through Jesus you can overcome. The earlier you do the better off you will be. God is a God of preparation. From early in our time, He had specific instructions for battle, for building the Tabernacle, for building the Temple, and for other future events that had yet to unfold. Even today, He prepares believers through His Word what problems to expect, but as the loving Father that He is, He provides the way out of them.

Preparing in advance teaches us how to expect trouble and overcome it, and who to cry out to, like Peter, when we fall. Rather than giving us a perfect life, we learn how to live life in its entirely with full assurance of hope in God’s power to help us. "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." Matthew 7:24-27.

Without the opposite occurring in our own lives we would never know what we need. You do not realize that you have peace if you have never had trouble. You realize you have peace only after you have had to seek it when everything is going wrong. In the hard moments, you realize your need for it because you are feeling the other side of life without it. God’s perfect strength in those troubled times is what leads us to feel His peace and realize there we do not have to worry or fear anything. In the end, it is His victory and purpose that prevail. A loving Father would not want you to have peace only in perfection, but He would want you to have peace when you feel scared and alone.

He will take your burdens upon Himself, and provide you with strength you cannot imagine. That is why we are told He will give us “rest”. He is willing to do the work for you. The first step is the one and only step you must take: you have to ask. Not that everything will be perfect, but you will have tremendous hope and strength in the meantime. At the end, you have the knowledge that you will prevail.

A yoke that does not tell us the storms will not occur, but is complete in strength, assured of its victory and abounding in love.

That is a yoke worth the storm.