I would have betrayed your children. Psalm 73:15 (NIV)
Asaph knew that if he were to give up, he would betray God’s children, and that stopped him in his tracks. Now there is more to climbing out of a black hole than that, but this is where it begins—with a decision, a commitment. “I will not betray your children.”
On the night when Jesus was betrayed, John tells us that Jesus prayed. Jesus was about to endure the agony of the cross. But the focus of His prayer was on His disciples, and what God would do in their lives. Jesus said, “For them I sanctify myself” (John 17:19). To sanctify yourself means to give yourself to some special purpose or calling. In this case, Jesus’ calling was to endure the cross. Nobody wants to endure a cross. But Jesus said, “I’ll do it for them.”
If you are dealing with a crisis today, your crisis is bigger than yourself. You belong to the body of Christ, and you are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses—men, women, children, and angels too. If you are a Christian, you bear His name. God has called you to run a race that has been marked out for you. So, take up your cross and follow Him.
Asaph lived a long time before Jesus, but this was exactly what he did. He looked back on his life and he said, There was a time when I almost gave up. I couldn’t make sense of what God was doing in the world or in my life. If I’d followed the inclinations of my heart, I would have given up. But I’m so glad I didn’t. I’m here to tell you that God turned me around and brought me through. It started when I made the decision not to betray the Lord or His children.
Who are some of the people in your life that you’re willing to endure this crisis for? How would those people be impacted if you chose to give up?
