“C’mon, life! Gimme a break, would you!” Are you tired? Are you discouraged? Are you ready to give up? Does it seem like everything is against you? Are people and circumstances pushing you into deep loneliness or deep frustration or both? What should you do? Answer: Do what Jesus did!
Take a few minutes and think through the life of Jesus. What did Jesus do when He grew tired, discouraged, disappointed, lonely and frustrated? What did Jesus do when people and circumstances were out to get Him? There is much for us to learn.
When Jesus was awakened to the faithlessness of His friends, He went and helped two men who were having a really bad day (Matt. 8:23-32). When Jesus was told to go away and that He was not wanted (although He had just done a good deed), He went and cheered up another man (Matt. 9:1-7). When Jesus was interrupted and taken advantage of, He turned and was kind to the person who disrupted what He was doing (Matt. 9:18-22).
When critics continued to accuse Jesus for doing things they didn’t like, He found a man who was hurting and made a positive difference in his life (Matt. 12:9-13). When His enemies were plotting against Him and trying to do away with Him, Jesus withdrew from them and helped some others (Matt. 12:14-15). When some of those closest to Him were offended at Him, He still sought to do nice things for them (Matt. 13:53-58), and when they wanted nothing to do with Him, Jesus went and did good to another man (Luke 4:16-37).
When Jesus felt like He needed to pull back to Himself, especially after repeated frustrations and personal loss, He actually was moved with compassion for others who were hurting and He did what He could to help them, even serving them a meal (Matt. 14:1-21). When those closest to Him continued to struggle with various things, He went out of His way to encourage them and lend them a hand (Matt. 14:22-33).
Even in His darkest moment—when most people would surely have turned inward by now and would be focused on self and would be ready to give up due to discouragement and frustration—Jesus was concerned about others (Luke 23:34, 43) and Jesus was taking care of others (John 19:25-27).
What do we learn from Jesus? What does Jesus teach us to do when life seems unfair and falling in on us, when we get tired and discouraged and disappointed and lonely? The lesson that rings loud and clear throughout the life of Jesus is to get up, go out and… Serve others. Do good unto others. Help others. When it would be easy to focus on self, instead focus on other people. That’s what Jesus did.