No Wonder You Have So Few

Meditations for Ragamuffins

May 3, 2024

No Wonder You Have So Few

And God will use this persecution to show his justice and to make you worthy of his Kingdom, for which you are suffering.

2 Thessalonians 1:5 

As we journey through life with Christ, seeking the life in Christ as our way of life, God will bless us with our personal Kairos moments. In these moments, the love of God will be very real to us, and God will reveal His truth to us in ways we hadn’t seen or understood before. These are mountain-top experiences. However, most of our journey with Christ will be spent along the plains and valleys of life. There will also be times when we feel as though we are in a pit, such as the one Jesus was thrown into the night he was betrayed and arrested. (See Psalm 88:1-6)

Jesus promised his followers that we would encounter grief, injury, persecution, and betrayal, just as he did. For all who take up their cross to follow Jesus will come days when we are too tired, too weary, too confused, and too lonely to pray. In such extremity, we may well feel as though we are beyond being comforted by scripture, prayer, or devotional practices. Our hearts will be tempted to cry out the words attributed to Teresa of Avila, “Lord, if this is the way you treat your friends, it is no wonder you have so few.”

Even so, when we find our faith lagging, Jesus’ faith in us and in his coming Kingdom is not lagging! While we will most certainly experience days when we feel our flame has been extinguished, fear not; Jesus will not quench a smoldering wick. While we will most certainly experience days when we feel we have been bruised and battered and are no longer useful, fear not; Jesus will not break a bruised reed. (Matthew 12:20)

My Takeaway: I suspect Teresa uttered her now famous words with just a hint of a smile at the corner of her mouth. Even though she had fallen (literally off her horse), she knew she was for evermore Jesus’ friend. So are you, so am I. 

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2024 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.