Thoughts From Hebrews - Day 14

                                                  Hebrews 5:7-10

During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. ⁸ Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered ⁹ and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him ¹⁰ and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.


      How many times have you seen or heard of people abandoning their "faith" in God or at least stopping their prayer life because they desperately, fervently, passionately prayed for something and it didn't happen. Usually these prayers aren't trivial like praying for your team to win or a parking spot, but are serious things like the illness of a loved one, a job to support the family, or a future Godly spouse, and despite the prayers the loved one dies, someone else gets the job, or you remain single. How about this passage? Jesus prayed with fervent cries and tears to be saved from death, He was heard, and He died the worst death imaginable. 

     So how do we respond to those times where it appears God didn't hear us or doesn't care? First of all, you have to remember and believe that He did hear you and does care. To get disillusioned and leave the faith is an insult to God. It's saying, "I know better than you", "You don't care about me", "You are too weak to take care of my problems". It's interesting that when Moses asked to see God's glory, God revealed His character - 

“I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished" Ex. 33,34

     What is God if not true to His character? God describes Himself in His essence as good, compassionate, gracious, and abounding in love and faithfulness. If you have entered into a relationship with God, the more you know Him, the more you will know these qualities.If you think that God doesn't care about you, then you are worshipping the wrong God because that is part of who He is. As a side note, those of us who believe in eternal security would say that a person who leaves the faith never really knew or entered into that relationship with God.

     As I meditate on this passage, I see something else I have never seen before. What if this passage is referring to Jesus praying to be rescued from the grave? We see in John 17 Jesus praying for His disciples' protection while He wouldn't be there to protect them. If this is the case, He not only was heard but His request was granted and He learned obedience through it. We have been looking at obedience lately and its link to true salvation. How could Jesus learn obedience? Wasn't He born obedient? Didn't obedience come naturally? Maybe in order to be an effective, empathetic, gracious, merciful High Priest, Jesus had to see that obedience is hard when you are going through something you think you should be rescued from but aren't. And maybe obedience is doing what God says when it means we lose all control of our future and put ourselves in God's hands. Jesus, although He was never disobedient, learned what obedience is and how difficult it is through His death and His resurrection.

     What are you going through? As I write this I am thinking of a woman who got saved and is living with her boyfriend and God is telling her to move out even though she loves the guy, has nowhere to go, and minimal source of income. Will she be obedient? Will you be obedient in what God is telling you to do?