9 Holy Week Lessons for Handling Hard TimesSample

This is one of the hard sayings of Jesus for sure, especially if you are suffering.

Am I really supposed to leave my family? Am I not supposed to lean into my friends? I can’t even say goodbye?

I’ve read this passage for decades, but this year it hit me differently.

Since we have been facing cancer and a long journey ahead, I have viewed this chapter as a turning point for Jesus personally. As we have explored earlier in this week’s devotional, chapter 9 is a hingepoint in the Gospel of Luke. We move from a season of miracles and teaching to Jesus “setting his face toward Jerusalem.” My interpretation is that this is where Jesus truly set his face on the suffering (and cross) before him, and began preparing for it.

One lesson I’m learning about facing suffering is this: Keep moving forward.

Cherish the past. Love the memories of life before suffering begins. But don’t get trapped in the endless game of “Why can’t things be like they used to be?”

Today, this passage tells me that if I am to face suffering and survive, I have to keep moving forward. I hear Jesus saying, “What is in the past is in the past. The only way forward is to keep moving forward.”

I hear this passage as a call to keep my heart and mind moving forward rather than spending energy worrying about what is lost.

So much of the battle of suffering is trying to not fall into the negative cycle of thinking “Why can’t things go back to the way they were?” When Jesus spoke to this man who wanted to tell his family goodbye, I think he was saying, “If you want to walk with me, on a road of suffering, you must keep moving forward.”

I have a friend who has written a number of books and I once asked him what was the worst selling book he has written. He didn’t even blink. He said, “Shoulda, woulda, coulda.” The mental game of recounting what is lost is a game you will never win. The only road through suffering is to keep moving forward.

Survivors often talk about the negative effects of looking back. Even science agrees. Here is an excerpt from an article from the Mayo Clinic:

“Researchers continue to explore the effects of positive thinking and optimism on health. Health benefits that positive thinking may provide include:

• Increased life span
• Lower rates of depression
• Lower levels of distress and pain
• Greater resistance to illnesses
• Better psychological and physical well-being
• Better cardiovascular health and reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease and stroke
• Reduced risk of death from cancer
• Reduced risk of death from respiratory conditions
• Reduced risk of death from infections
• Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress

It's unclear why people who engage in positive thinking experience these health benefits. One theory is that having a positive outlook enables you to cope better with stressful situations, which reduces the harmful health effects of stress on your body.”

In John 5, Jesus meets a paralytic who has been unable to walk and bound to a mat for 38 years. That’s a long time to suffer. Jesus healed him, but with a condition. Here’s their exchange:

'When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, ‘Would you like to get well?’ ‘I can’t, sir,’ the sick man said. ‘For I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.’”

Jesus told him, ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!’”

John 5:6-8

So many times, the road through healing requires walking forward. Sitting still, wallowing, and living in the regret of what is gone is a game you will not win. Don’t let those thoughts rent space in your brain.

Rather, focus on what’s ahead. In our world, no matter what cancer does to our family, there is a healing coming. No matter what suffering you are facing, if you belong to Jesus, the road forward is better than the road back. And the road forward is leading toward a Home where suffering is forever gone.

There’s an old saying, attributed to many different people, sums up what I’m learning from this strange verse in Luke:

“What is coming is better than what is gone. Look forward, not back.”

Prayer:

Jesus, help me focus on what is coming, rather than what has been lost. You said that you are always making all things new. Help me to forget what is behind and to press toward what is ahead. Enable me to press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Amen