Sometimes children can teach us so much. I was at my monthly hair appointment when I was so amazed by the cutest little boy. He must have been no more than 5 years old. His mother is a hair stylist at the same salon and she had brought him in for a much needed hair cut on her day off. When I first arrived she was getting him all situated in the chair and he was singing praises to our God. Yes, he was singing praises! Out of his sweet little voice came these words, "How Great is our God, sing with me, how Great is our God!" He continued singing those same words over and over and several of the ladies in the salon, including myself, were smiling and telling him how great it was to hear him sing this song to God. He was not ashamed to sing and was not ashamed to sing about how great our God is.
Soon his haircut began and I observed how he was sitting so patiently and letting his Mom work diligently on shaping his haircut. I thought this must be the most well behaved little boy in the world. I continued to watch and listen as I was getting my hair colored and then he became restless and started to whine. His complaint was that hair was getting in his mouth and up his nose. His Mom just told him to be patient and be still and let her do a couple of more things and she would be finished. He tried but before long he was crying and then he requested several times that his nose had to be blown. He was becoming more and more impatient and could not be still. Finally he just blurted out "Mommy I can't take this anymore"! We were all amazed at his sincere adamant statement. My hairdresser looked at his Mom and said, "Did he just say what I think he said"? She laughed and said "yes, he said he can't take this anymore"! By this time we were all laughing and he was crying. He wanted out of that chair so badly and wanted to be finished with that haircut. Unfortunately his mom still had "a couple of more things to do".
This whole little situation reminded me so much of times in my life when one moment I am praising God about how great he is and the next moment I am crying out to him telling him I just can't take this anymore. How about you? Have you found yourself doing the same thing? I feel like God has a word for us when this happens. That word is "just be still, let me do a couple more things and I will be finished"! Oh how hard it is to just sit and be still when things get uncomfortable for us. We want to "get down", we want to get out of the situation. We don't want God to finish what he is doing.
Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10a
There is one son, however, that did not ask to get down or get out of doing what he was asked to do. His name is Jesus. He was willing to stay on the cross until his Father had finished what needed to be done. Jesus had spent many years on this earth telling others how great God is. He shared parables to help his disciples understand how great God is. He healed the sick and called out demons with the authority of God. He stilled the storm, he walked on water, he arose from the dead. He knew how great God is. He said that he could do nothing on his own. Everything that Jesus did was what God sent him to do. Perhaps the hardest thing God sent him to do was to die on a cross for us who are sinners. Let's take a look at what Jesus did while he was on the cross.
In the book of Matthew it is explained that Jesus was enduring many insults from those watching him suffer but he did not respond back to those who insulted him. Jesus only cried out to his Father in a loud voice.
Matthew 27:46, 50
46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"-which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
In the book of Luke we are told about the criminals that were crucified with Jesus and their response to Jesus and his response to them.
Luke 23:32-34, 39-46
32 Two other men both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals-one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots... 39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"
40 But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."
42 Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
43 Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
44 It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.
In the book of John we see that even when Jesus was suffering he was concerned for his mother Mary and made sure that she would be taken care of and then he said what we all want to hear when we are in a time of pain and suffering.
John 19:25-30
25 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son" 27 and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
28 Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." 29 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Well it is obvious by now that no matter how painful and uncomfortable our suffering might be, none of us have had to endure as much as Jesus. However, we can learn some things from what Jesus did while he was suffering. The first thing that we see is that Jesus cried out to God, even though he felt that God had forsaken him, he still cried out to God. That is the first thing that we need to remember to do when we are facing times of pain and suffering.
Another thing that we need to do when our life is so full of troubles is to remember the importance of forgiving others. Especially if the "others" are the ones who are causing you so much heartache and pain. Jesus was being insulted so badly as he hung on the cross but he did not make any comment to his insulters, he just committed them into God's hands by forgiving them. When we forgive, we give God permission to deal with our enemies. It lets God know that we have released any desire to take revenge on them.
The next thing we see Jesus do is helping someone who asked him. When we are suffering we sometimes will withdraw or make sure others know that we can't help them because we are too busy dealing with our own troubles. Jesus did not withdraw or refuse to help the criminal that asked for help. May we also follow his lead and be kind to others even when we might not feel like it.
Jesus did not forget to honor his mother even though he was being crucified because it was his Father's desire to save us through his only son Jesus. He did not forget to show love for his family and friends. We do not need to forget our family and friends as we go through hardships. They love us and we need to demonstrate our love to them by remembering them even when we are facing our hardest times.
Lastly, we do not want to forget that the pain and suffering will come to an end. There will be a time when we can say as Jesus said, "It is finished!" We can then sing our praises to God and thank him for taking us through the hard times and for finishing what needed to be done.
That sweet little boy finally heard the words from his Mom that he was longing to hear, "Okay, we are all finished!". He was so delighted to have all that loose hair cleaned off his face and neck so he could get down from that chair. What did he do when he got down? He enjoyed a cracker that one of the ladies shared with him and then he sat down and she asked him to sing for us again. What did he do? He started to praise our God again and again with the same song! How great is our God? He is great enough to help us when we are in some pretty difficult places in our lives. He is great enough to answer our prayers when we cry out to him. He is great enough to encourage us and tell us to hang on until we hear those wonderful words that we all long to hear from him, "It is finished!" How great is your God? Are you going through hard times right now that are making you want to give up and quit? Are you telling God and others that you just can't take it anymore? Be encouraged by this little boy and by Jesus. Neither of them gave up. They stayed in the pain and suffering until it was finished. I hope you will do the same because our God is great enough to help us endure anything. Sing with me...How great is our God!!!
Dear Great God,
Oh how awesome it is to know that when I want to give up and quit that you have shown me through Jesus, just how great you are. You did not leave Jesus on the cross. He lives today. You are so great that you resurrected him and now he sits at your right hand interceding for me when I cry out for help. He knows how it feels to be in a time of suffering and pain. He finished what you started in his life. Give me the strength and courage to do the same. Help me not to quit until it is finished! Help me to cry out to you, forgive those who hurt me, help those who ask me, and love those who love me when I am hurting and going though troubled times. I want to finish just like Jesus did and hear you say "well done my good and faithful servant". I will sing praises to you! How great you are my God, how great you are!! In Jesus name I pray, Amen!
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Debbie..This was wonderful! Thank you for sharing this with me..It has made my day!
So glad you enjoyed it! God bless you and your family!