From duty to delight

I have been thinking more about the previous post with the quote by Elisabeth Eliot. I so much don't want to communicate that we are to be "grin and bear it" Christians, or "suck it up and do it" Christians. Jesus never called us to just "suck it up". But he has called us to live in a fallen world, and there are times when I don't want to get out of bed, or take care of my kids, or love my husband well. I just want to wallow in all the ugliness of me. I believe those are the times the quote speaks of.

Life is such a balance between desire and duty. What do we do during the times when our desires don't match up to the life Christ has called us to? I remember many years ago feeling so depressed that even that the thought of reading my Bible was excruciating. At the same time though, John and I began really growing in our understanding of the Gospel. I remember sitting one night with my Bible open and not wanting to read it. I knew my heart didn't want to read it and so my solution was to not read my Bible until my heart had the desire. (oh tricksy and false heart of mine) I asked John, "If I really don't want to read my Bible right now, should I still? Because I don't want to be legalistic and just do it out of duty." He said, " You need to ask yourself why you don't want to read it and then you need to pray that God will change your heart and give you a desire for His Word and as you are praying, you need to start reading. Go to Jesus."

Isn't that not also what Jesus tells us what to do? "Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gently and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."(Matt. 11:28-30)

Our Saviour is gentle and lowly of heart - not a demanding taskmaster. He knows we are burdened - He does not tangle with whether or not we should feel burdened - He knows life this side of Heaven is difficult and energy-sapping. He does not say , "Come to me and I will take away all of your burdens." or "Come to me and I will remove the yoke from your neck." He calls us to "Come". He gives us an action to do. He promises that His yoke is easy-easier than our own self-imposed yoke- and that His burden is light-lighter than our burdens of fear, oppression, doubt,etc. How is that even possible? That His yoke be easy for us and His burden light? Because is it not true that He is carrying the weight of our burden? Is it not true that He is working in and through us with all "His energy"(Col. 1:29)? His energy - I love that, because most days, I don't have any energy of my own.

The key to the Elisabeth Eliot quote that spoke so much to me was the words, "by faith" in the midst of everything else she said. Grinning and bearing it and "sucking it up" does not require faith. But holding fast to Christ in the midst of trials and afflictions does. Getting out of bed sometimes requires faith that my Saviour will work in me today as He has promised - that He will energize me in a way I can't even foresee to do things, even easy things, like get my Spanish homework done, or again explain that the "ph" makes and "f" sound for the dozenth time with patience that is for my child instead of being irritated, or to read His Word when I would rather read something else, something less demanding on my soul - or to endure life altering hard things and persevere.

Jesus bids us come - when we are empty - and He promises to give us "all things we need for life and godliness"(1Pet. 1:3)...by faith. Jesus bids us come and empowers us through His grace -nothing more, nothing less. He bids us come because He is at work in us to will and to act according to His good pleasure(Phil.2:13). And has He not promised, that He is for us? He has.

What shall we say then to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died- more than that, who was raised- who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceeding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or fmine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31-39)

Let that move our duty into the relm of delight - into the "obedience that comes from faith"(Rom.1:5), "compeled by the love of Christ" for us (2Cor. 5:14).