How's That Working?

"Life without Jesus -- how's that working for you?"

Fine, thank you.

What a ridiculous question.  Life without Jesus -- how's that working?  Let's face it -- life without Jesus often appears to work just fine.  There are lots of people out there who are living their lives without Jesus.  They have good jobs.  They have good health.  They have loving spouses.  They have kids who are in university on scholarships, cheerleaders, and enrolled in little league hockey and on their way to the big leagues.  Their lives without Jesus are jim-dandy, and they're not just pretending, either.

And then there are the people who are living life with Jesus, and it seems like everything is going wrong.  They lose their jobs and can't find a new one.  Their spouses die of cancer.  Their kids cause more heartache than pride.  They suffer from illness.  Sometimes they even give up in despair.

Life with Jesus -- how's that working for you?

Not very well, actually.  Not very well.

It's an old problem.  Asaph talked about it in Psalm 73.  "For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.  For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek.  They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind." Life without Jesus?  No problem!

Of course, that's not the end of the matter.  Asaph acknowledges,

"But when I thought how to understand this,
    it seemed to me a wearisome task,

until I went into the sanctuary of God;
    then I discerned their end. 

Truly you set them in slippery places;
    you make them fall to ruin.

 How they are destroyed in a moment,
    swept away utterly by terrors!"

It's not over until it's over, and while life without Jesus might work just fine, death without Jesus is a ruin and a terror.

Still, we do people a disservice when we persist in spreading the lie that life without Jesus is filled with nothing but torment and suffering, and life with Jesus is somehow always wonderful.  We don't do that, you say?  What about when we say things like this?

"You just need to have faith that God will  heal."

"It's ok that you didn't get that job.  God obviously has something even better for you."

"It's not God's will for anyone to be sick.  After all, he's promised us abundant life, and sickness is not part of the abundant life."

"Cast your cares on him, and he will care for you."

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

Oh, wait, those last two are actually in the Bible. . . 

But was Jesus saying that if we just ask him into our hearts, he would make all our problems go away?  Not so much.

Yet that's exactly what we lead people to believe. We tell the teen girl who is cutting herself in despair, "Cast all your cares on him, and he will care for you."  What is she supposed to think?  Of course she thinks that means if she asks Jesus into her heart, he's going to somehow magically rescue her from those things that cause her to despair. So she asks Jesus into her heart, and the bullies continue to torment her at school, or her father continues to drink, or her parents continue to wage war with each other in the night.  We tell the husband standing at his wife's bedside, watching her take one ragged breath after another, "You just need to have faith that God will heal."  He blames himself as she slips away; his faith must have been lacking.  We say to the person without a job, "God's got something better," and she goes home and decides that she's going to have to live on two meals a day so she can keep the hydro on, and she doubts that God even sees her anymore, let alone has something better.

The fact is that life without Jesus can work just fine, and life with Jesus can, and often is, full of suffering and pain.  Sure, sometimes suffering and pain is caused by our sin, and when we begin to live in accordance to God's Word, things get better.  But not always.  This world is broken, and sometimes life just sucks, no matter how much we wish it didn't.

So how about we stop adding to the burdens by holding out a handful of half-truths and downright lies disguised as hopeful promises?  How about we start admitting that life is broken, and that on this side of eternity, there isn't always an answer?  How about we stop holding out uncertain gifts as though they are guarantees, and begin to hold out the Giver who is the only guarantee we will ever have?

What if he never answered another prayer?  What if he never healed another person?  What if you will always struggle with that mental illness?  What if that physical limitation will be with you for life?  What if you will never have enough money?  What if you never get the job of your dreams?  What if you never get to hear your dad say, "I love you"?  Is God enough?  What if, instead of telling each other, "God's going to do this or that for you," we began to tell each other, "God is enough.  Even in this, he is enough.  He is worthy.  Even in this, he is worthy.  He is good.  Despite all that we see and feel right now, he is good."

Life with Jesus might not be easy.  It might be full of heartache and sorrow.  But life with Jesus is still worth it.  I can't promise you anything.  There might not be a job.  There might not be a healing.  There might not be a miracle.  There might not be an answer.  There might only be a cold, lonely night of the soul that feels like it will stretch on endlessly.  Anyone who tells you anything to the contrary is a liar.  But I can tell you this:  regardless of the heartache and sorrow, he is worthy.  Jesus is worthy.  

He.  Is.  Enough.

No matter what.

Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
    you hold my right hand.

 You guide me with your counsel,
    and afterward you will receive me to glory^.

 Whom have I in heaven but you?
    And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.

My flesh and my heart may fail,
    but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

(Psalm 73:23-26)