“Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.” (Matt. 17:17)
The seasons of it last for so long at times, a world of fools driven by their own selfish desires, most caring nothing at all for the will of the Most High, oblivious to His Sovereignty, while many who profess to serve Him do so not out of love, but of a fear of retribution from Him if they do not obey.
We go out into the world of the wicked one and find wicked people, polite, willing to listen for a short time, but they do not need the Almighty interfering with the path they have chosen for their life, and when they have need of Him, it is again only for selfish reasons.
“I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;” (Prov. 1:26)
We search for the lost amongst the wicked, we meet with those who sit in the pews each Sunday morning, whose conversations revolve around the world and self, who have offered the Living God a part of their life, but to fully die to self is abhorrent to them, they care more about the comforts of this world, fulfilling the next selfish desire, their personal wants override their need of the Savior.
And so, the season of suffering them, all of them, can go on for so very long.
The peace that passes all understanding my friends is not found amongst the masses, it is not found in the company of others, it does not exist in this world’s offerings.
“And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” (Mark 1:35)
Alone with the Lord, contemplating His mercy and goodness, His faithfulness and love, apart from everyone and everything.
The problem is that in this life we cannot stay there, the mouth of hell is open wide, and millions are flowing into it every week, from every walk of life, from every corner of this earth, dying in their sins by the tens of thousands every day.
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge:” (Hosea 4:6a)
And so, we suffer them, while suffering ourselves because of them.
In many, if not most Evangelical churches today, people are not taught how to have a heart for those people “out there,” they are taught how to be the best Christian they can be, how their lives should reflect the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, but only inward. The kindness of preaching the gospel to those lost souls is not the paramount of teachings offered, keeping ourselves unspotted from the world is, not forsaking the assembling of themselves together is brought before them as almost a sin if they do not do so.
Loving their neighbor means those in the pew beside them, while being polite, yet never judgmental towards those outside the confines of the walls of the assembly.
And we suffer them as well.
“And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.” (Phil. 1:14)
The wicked will hate you, and many who have been born-again, who indeed are your brothers and sisters in Christ, will refuse to walk the path of searching for the lost, they have, in their own minds, enough difficulty just trying to be the “Best Christian” they can be.
Alone, apart to a desert place, away from the noise and concerns of this world, away from those who say they serve the Almighty but care more about conversing about the things of this world than about Him whom they claim to serve.
The suffering eats at the soul of the man of God, but it is his cross to carry, and carry it he will, till at last he arrives home, and can finally lay it aside, and receive at last the peace that passes all understanding.
