“My thoughts are
nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you
could imagine. For just as the
heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my
thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:8-9
To fully understand what
it means to have the abundant life that Jesus promised, we have to start with
the fact that it is God who defines abundant life. It is not defined by the fulfillment of our
fleeting human inventions or desires. It
is a powerful and precious life that Jesus Himself both promised and modeled
for us.
See, back in His day,
people had expectations about their lives and the way they wanted God’s will to
play out for them, just as we do. The people
of Israel
Instead, what they got was
a lowly baby, born in a stinky barn. He
was not royal by earthly standards at all.
In fact, the Bible goes so far as to say there was nothing attractive
about Him!
“He grew up like small
plant before the Lord, like a root growing in a dry land. He had no special
beauty or form to make us notice him; there was nothing in his appearance to
make us desire him. Isaiah 53:2.
He came from humble means,
was nothing special to look at and would end up being questioned by His own
earthly family during His ministry.
Jesus was persecuted and
lied about. He was rejected. His cousin was murdered. In His final moments, His closest friends
betrayed and abandoned Him.
And yet. . .
Jesus was the fulfillment
of God’s thoughts and plans for a Messiah for His people. And He lived an abundant life. He knew who He was. Even at age 12, He knew He was to be about
His Father’s business. And though He
faced the same humanity that we all do, He knew an intimacy with God that
sustained Him, as evidenced by the many, many times He would go away to pray. He experienced the life-giving power of the
Spirit that enabled Him to walk on this earth.
Jesus’ abundant life was found in doing His Father’s will.
And Jesus knew that we,
like Him, would face incredible difficulty and pain on this earth. He knew we would ache with rejection and
grieve in death. Still He promises us so
many things:
-He would carry our
burdens and give us rest (Matthew 11:28 -29)
-He will give us peace of
mind and heart, far beyond what this world can give (John 14:27 )
-He wants to bring healing
to us – He is a God of miracles! (Matthew 8:3, Mark 1:42. . .and so many
more!!)
-He will give abundantly
to us: a good amount, pressed down, shaken together, and running over
will be poured into our laps (Luke 6:38 )
-He told us we don’t need
to worry about what we will eat, drink or wear – He will supply all of our
needs as we seek Him first (Matthew 6:25 -34)
-He said when we ask, we will receive… we will find… and the door
will be opened to us (Luke 11:9-10)
-He will always be with us, even to the end of the age (Matt. 28:20).
These are only a few of
the promises Jesus makes that show us what abundant life looks like – and there
are so many more!
But we get confused when we
see the promises through human thinking instead of God’s way of thinking.
It is very hard for us to
encounter illness and death on this earth and still believe that Jesus promises
miracles and healing.
It is difficult for us to
be down to the last pennies in our bank account and believe that Jesus tells us
not to worry about what we eat or drink, but that God will supply all our
needs.
But here’s another promise
that Jesus makes to us:
“I have told you all
this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials
and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
Jesus does not sugar coat
this fact: we will have a lot of pain in this life. But He also offers promises in the midst of
pain. Hope in the face of tragedy. He
has overcome for us! Do we believe
it? Because that is the definition of an
abundant life.
Abundant life is not merely
a life of ease - it is a life of victory.
A life of overcoming. A life of
hope when all looks hopeless because we know Jesus paid for our victory. We know Who holds our lives in His
all-powerful hands. We can rest in His
perfect peace that passes finite human wisdom.
We don’t have to strive when things are falling apart – we can cling to
the promises of Jesus, even if our circumstances may be opposite to those
promises.
And that kind of abundant
living is a beautiful mystery to those who don’t know God! Why can we find stability in the midst of
chaos? Why can we wrestle with pain and
yet still find peace? How can we deal
with rejection and still know that we are passionately loved by our Creator?
The beauty of abundant
life is not in its earthly excesses, but in its power for living in every day!
It is knowing we have
victory in Jesus – even when victory doesn’t look like we thought it
would.
It’s in living a life
surrendered to Jesus as Lord, and trusting He is with us, for us and moving on
our behalf, no matter what our circumstances are.
It is choosing by faith to
believe that because of Jesus’ work, we will overcome, even when facing
adversity.
I’ve wanted God to provide
for us by giving Craig a job. But His
provision for us has looked so different than I thought it would. His thoughts and plans about this season of
our lives have allowed us to feel the love of God’s people, see His miracles
and trust Him more deeply as we wait on His timing and plan.
And when we seasons of
blessing come – as we know they will - when our barns are full and life is
sweet, abundant living means this:
"God
has given you this good stuff so that you can show the world a person who
enjoys blessings, but who is still totally obsessed with God." (Francis Chan)
That’s
the kind of abundant life Jesus modeled and died for us to have.
We
can live in victory because of Jesus!
And when we submit to Jesus as our Lord, we can live surrendered lives
that allow God’s will to play out in ways beyond what we can imagine. We can show those who don’t know Jesus that
we passionately love Him and trust Him, no matter what we are facing. That is the abundant life!
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