Sometimes, it’s not easy to work through the teachings of Jesus. As our Lord, we want desperately to understand His will for us and let it transform us into someone who is prepared for eternal life with Him. When we take His yoke, His burden doesn’t always feel light. Life doesn't always seem easier when we cast our cares upon Him.
Living a life committed to Jesus takes faith when things get hard. It takes us learning to focus on the right things. This is the only way we can live while Satan and the powers and principalities throw their worst at us. This is why our faith is so important. Faith is what allows us to see Jesus when things get hard. Faith is the substance that gives us something to grab onto when we hurt or when we are full of anxiety.
But faith does not come automatically. It is intentional. It is something we choose to have. And when we do, it gives us the focus for our sight when things become difficult. This is how His yoke is a light burden. It’s not that His yoke removes trials or pain, but it becomes easy when we learn not to shoulder it ourselves.
The world cannot understand this. And unfortunately, many Christians struggle with this as well. When we hang on to our problems and refuse to cast them upon Jesus, we are stuck trying to bear a heavy load ourselves without inviting Jesus to help us. Somewhere along the way, we feel that we must muscle through the pain and the suffering on our own, or we are somehow less of a person. When we feel this way, we are giving up one of the most precious blessings Jesus offers us.
Many of Jesus’ teachings are like this. We cast our cares upon Him, yet the pain and hurt don’t always go away. We love our neighbors and are sometimes taken advantage of for doing so. We live our faith, and we are often vilified for it. The peace that Jesus brings sometimes feels elusive in our lives, and we feel guilty even thinking about this being true. Sometimes, the Way seems elusive. We often wonder what we are doing wrong when we don’t feel the peace and joy Jesus promises His disciples.
To me, this dichotomy is best seen in these statements. Jesus says,
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” (Matthew 5:9 ESV).
The angel who appeared to the shepherds at the birth of Jesus said,
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2:14 ESV).
And Paul says,
“For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility” (Ephesians 2:14 ESV).
All of these passages talk about the wonderful gift of peace that Jesus brings. In a world of chaos and fighting, peace is a wonderful blessing. But Jesus also talks about the sword He came to bring as well.
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
And a person's enemies will be those of his own household.
Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:34-38 ESV).
It is often in these relationships that we feel less peace. We commit our lives to Jesus, and those we love most do not share our faith. In fact, they may even resent it. And as strange as this may sound, these family members may even attend the same church we go to and profess the same faith we profess. It is not always doctrine that brings the sword, but the commitment we live in our lives that creates the tension.
Our lives can be the Gospel others read or the condemnation others see when we commit to holiness while they are far less committed to the Master than we are. This can be the crux of the issue. For those who are wholly committed to Jesus as Lord, we find the peace that Jesus brings. But for those who are not committed to Jesus as Lord, there is often a sword.
Living with people or working among them can be a hostile environment, even if we are circumspect in our speech and gracious in our language. For those who do not share the faith, our submission to King Jesus is seen as an indictment upon them. And in some ways, it is. Our lives and commitment to Jesus is something they must deal with. People often manifest hostility in our relationship with them regardless of what we do or say. It is the sword.
The burden we bear when the sword is brought between people is not an insignificant burden in the least. It can bring pain, heartache, and tears. Yet Jesus says,
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:29-30 ESV).
And this is where we often struggle. We desperately want the peace that Jesus brings, but we are often given the sword. We want to cast our cares upon Him, but we still struggle in life under the weight of deep sorrow, disappointments, and disasters. In the midst of all this, we can find ourselves struggling with our faith and feeling that something is wrong with us.
But the joy that Jesus promises is there. It’s there in the midst of the pain, the struggles, the sorrows. It’s there when we take the step of faith to believe wholly in Him and to live fully committed to His Kingship over us. It’s there when we let go of ourselves and trust in Him. To find the contentment Paul talks about in the midst of suffering and persecution in Philippians 4, we must be fully devoted to Jesus with our whole life.
If we reserve part of our lives to ourselves and let our carnal man have a foothold in our past, then finding this peace in the midst of the sword and suffering is nearly impossible. Only when we give ourselves fully to Jesus can we find peace when the world finds chaos. That doesn’t mean we won’t feel deep pain or disappointment, but it means that we can find the gift of peace within the pain and disappointment. The world cannot see that, nor will it understand that.
I wish I could say that following Jesus means we will never feel pain and sorrow again, but I can’t. I can tell you that Jesus will provide peace even in the midst of our most trying moments. And isn’t that when we really need it most?
The beautiful thing is that though living for Jesus may bring a sword and hostility between the people we love most, it can also bring peace among people who were once our enemies. As we travel through this temporary existence on earth, let’s remember that Jesus is preparing us for a life we can scarcely imagine. As painful as it is, the sword will accomplish its purpose in us, as will the peace that may come in the most unexpected places.
This is all made possible when we learn not to learn on our own understanding but to have the faith to cast it all upon the Lord, who cares for us. In the midst of the darkness, we have our eyes fixed on our Lord. We patiently walk with Him when things are hard, knowing He will lead us through it in His way, according to His sovereign will, in a way that glorifies His name. What a blessing that our darkest moments may be the thing we can contribute to the glory of King Jesus.
I am in the book of 1 Corinthians in my daily Bible reading. When you compare this letter's tone to Galatians, you see a marked transformation in Paul's delivery.
Most scholars regard Galatians to be the first letter Paul wrote and likely the first inspired letter written in the New Testament. 1 Corinthians was written around seven years or so later. In those seven years, Paul went through a lot for the cause of Jesus.
Galatians was written to Paul's hometown people. Tarsus was in Cilicia, a region next to Galatia in modern-day Turkey. This first letter had the harshest tone of all his letters. By the time you get to 1 Corinthians, Paul's tone is greatly tempered. Instead of harsh indictments, his tone is fatherly and gentle.
The church at Corinth probably had much more problems than the churches of Galatia, yet Paul speaks in a spirit of love and reconciliation with this struggling group of Christians.
By the time Paul penned his last letter to Timothy, he had spent all of himself for the cause of Jesus, and he was at rest with all things. Paul's evolution of love and temperament, as guided by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is a wonderful example of our heart's growth as we pour ourselves into Kingdom living and allow the Father to work on us in conforming ourselves into the image of His dear Son.