We’ve selected another devotional from Alistair Begg’s devotional Suffering Knows No Strangers for today.

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Consider Him

Have you ever been tempted to give up on your faith? Maybe during a tough week, you’ve considered your circumstances and thought, “None of this is working to my benefit. It’s time to forget about Christianity and live as others live.” In those moments, it’s easy to look around and see our unbelieving friends, family, and coworkers living differently and more easily and seemingly having a great time. Envious glances allow doubt and disillusionment to creep in and steal our resolve to stay on the straight and narrow path.

This was the experience of the psalmist Asaph. He “had almost stumbled” because he “was envious of the arrogant when [he] saw the prosperity of the wicked” who were “always at ease” (Psalm 73:2-3, 12). This, it appears, was also the experience of the Christians to whom the writer of Hebrews addressed himself. They had “not yet” had to shed blood to stand firm in the faith (Hebrews 12:4), but it was clear that the struggle against sin within and the struggle to withstand opposition from without were taking their toll.

What should they do? Consider Jesus. The biblical antidote to faintheartedness and weariness is to fix our eyes on Him who endured hostility—who endured the cross—to obtain the joy set before Him (Hebrews 12:2).

At some point in our lives, all of us will face unjust suffering in words, deeds, or circumstances—and we can admit that we don’t want to take the dig in the ribs and the spikes in the shins. All of us will face the reality that we have not yet defeated the sins that we have struggled with for years and years. All of us will face days when we don’t want to be in the race when we are tempted to give up and drop out. What should you do on those days? Hear God’s word saying, Consider Him. Consider the life of Christ: what it was like and where it led. He opened the door to glory; now we walk the path behind Him. Look at Jesus, who ran this race and is now “seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). Day by day, no matter whether the course runs uphill or the wind feels full against us, we consider Him and “run with endurance the race that is set before us” (v 1).

Today’s Updates:

Zach’s day today was similar to yesterday. He didn’t sleep much overnight and was quite restless for a good chunk of the day. They gave him some relaxing medications after lunch and Zach managed to settle and get some rest. The doctor is concerned about the agitation and lack of sleep, and he believes the restlessness is because of pain. This doctor consulted the surgeons to look at Zach’s feet again and see if their assessment has changed and if they would consider doing a surgery sooner.

Zach has been on the trach mask for two full days now and is doing well! They did a repeat chest x-ray yesterday and his pneumonia looks relatively unchanged from the last x-ray. We are once again surprised with Zach being off the ventilator despite his bad pneumonia! Zach is coughing up more than before and clearing out some of the congestion in his lungs. The nurses sent some samples to check for any additional infections, just to be safe. Please continue to pray that Zach’s brain may heal, and that the Lord will provide Zach and us the endurance we need on this journey, fixing our eyes on Jesus.

Megan’s song recommendation for today is “He Knows” by Jeremy Camp. (https://youtu.be/OsccUg4TDd8?si=E8BzeX6FxdL3jRqn)

”Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.“ (Hebrews 12:1-3)