Last month, Timmy turned 3. (It seems like only last week that I gave birth to him, but apparently, it was three years ago.) A few days after his birthday, I took him to our physician for his annual well-child checkup. Timmy checked out just fine. He did, however, have to get a s-h-o-t.
I helped the nurse hold Timmy down while the student doctor training with our regular doctor administered the shot in Timmy’s thigh. Timmy fought us, screamed, and cried. Soon, though, the torture was over, and he was all better—especially when he got a lollipop for having endured a shot.
Timmy sucked on his lollipop in the waiting room as I checked out at the window. “Mmm, this is a good lollipop,” Timmy said. “Can I have another one?”
“No, you only got one shot,” I said.
Timmy thought about this for a brief second. “Can I have another shot?” he said.
Timmy was willing to brave the discomfort of another shot in order to get something he really wanted. Small price to pay, he figured.
I wonder if you and I ever think of things in this way? Are we ever willing to endure—or even seek out—the unpleasant things in our lives that it is necessary for us to endure in order to reach joy?
Jesus certainly thought this way. In fact, the writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus endured even the humiliating agony of the cross by looking forward to the joy that would come afterwards.
You and I suffer pain and difficulties in life. Often, we try to grit our way through it, clenching our teeth and doing our best to endure until it’s over. But do we ever think about the joy that awaits us on the other side of the trial?
Sometimes, we get the idea that we as Christians shouldn’t need any reward. That we should just live our lives faithfully with no thought for what we might get out of it. But that’s not the way Jesus lived His life! Remember that He was looking forward to the joy He would get after He had gone through the cross!
True, it is arrogant and prideful to try to dictate the nature of the reward God “must” give us. God owes us nothing. He is not and cannot be obligated to bless us in the way we might think He should. Nevertheless, in His goodness and grace, He has set rewards before us. Do we really think that He wants us to ignore them?
Women go through childbirth (or adoption paperwork) because of the joy God has set before us—the joy of bringing a new life into our family.
We sacrifice sleep for our children, getting up in the night to feed them or tend to them in their sickness, and why? Because of the joy God has set before us—the joys of having a healthy child.
We pray diligently for our precious children to come to know Jesus and to stay close to Him so that one day, we will know they are walking in the truth. (See 3 John 1:4.)
We struggle to figure out how in the world to discipline our children so that they will grow up to be contributing members to society and their own families, and a pleasure to us. (See Proverbs 10:1.)
We work all day (whether inside or outside the home) so that we can experience the joy of providing for our family. (See 1 Timothy 1:8.)
We sacrifice our own wants, needs, and desires in order to put our children first, and so that we can know the joy of giving ourselves for the sake of our beloved. (See 1 Thessalonians 2:8 and Philippians 2:17.)
Praise be to God for His mercy and generosity that He has set things up so that there are always rewards set before us. Did He have to do that? No. But He did. Why?
So we could have something to look forward to.
I don’t know what you’re facing in your life right now; you don’t know what I’m facing. But I do know that God has set joy before both of us.
What is the joy He has set before you? Are you looking forward to it and letting the anticipation of it strengthen you now?
Hebrews 12:2—Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (ESV)