Prosperity, pain and shouldering the burdens of life

Jesus didn’t sugarcoat the future for the disciples when he told them that they would face opposition and danger, and that true discipleship involved self-denial, writes James Burns.

BY JAMES BURNS*

I wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. But what does prosperity look like for you? It may be buying a holiday home, upgrading your car or for some, simply having money left at the end of the month, when all bills have been paid.

A few years ago there was much talk about the so-called ‘Prosperity Gospel’, which asserted that it was God’s will for all Christians to be healthy and wealthy, living lives that are free from suffering and characterised by material success. If a person has enough faith, they will receive the blessing they ask for, it said. Whilst many people literally bought into this belief – and why wouldn’t you? - cynically, the main people who really seemed to benefit were those tele-evangelists who publicised it.

Not many of us would claim to have all the wealth, health and happiness we desire in answer to our prayers. Yet, how often do we quote Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” ? And do we really know the context in which the prophet Jeremiah brought those words from God?

In his book, The Hitch-Hikers Guide to Heaven, John Blanchard reminds us that Jeremiah told the captive exiles that they “had been deported due to their sin and they should accept their punishment, settle down in Babylon and even pray for the welfare of their pagan overlords”.

It’s tempting to claim this promise from God to get us out of trouble, be it financial or of any other kind. But we need to note that God’s promise was not to an individual, but to all the people, and that it would not be fulfilled until 70 years later, when many of those living would have died. So, definitely not the instant answer to prayer that we often expect.

Jesus didn’t sugar-coat the future for the disciples when he told them that they would face opposition and danger, and that true discipleship involved self-denial. And of course, Jesus suffered so much hatred and finally execution, all for our sake. Given this, we should not be surprised when life doesn’t go smoothly for us. For if God did not make life easy for his own son, how can we expect it for ourselves?

But without distorting the sense of God’s pledge, we can certainly claim his promise to give us hope and a future, if we are serious about finding him and making him pre-eminent in our lives. For what better future can we have than one that is based on his will for our lives, fully believing that whatever difficulties come our way, we will not go through them alone? God doesn’t promise to take us out of our problems, rather that we will never face them alone. “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life .... I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11: 28-30 The Message.

The Good News translation of this passage talks about a yoke – a wooden harness, and I picture an ox struggling to carry or pull a heavy load. I don’t know about you, but that’s a picture I can relate to when life is tough for me. So, Jesus’ offer to give me rest is very appealing. But then he says, “Take my yoke and put it on you”. Now, he had me at the rest bit, but I don’t need an even heavier load, thank you. But then I picture Jesus and I yoked together, so that he is sharing my load and walking alongside me as I go through life. Then his answer makes sense: the yoke he will give me is easy, and the load he will put on me is light.

Of course, there is nothing wrong in trying to better ourselves, and we can seek God’s guidance for how we can best do that whilst keeping true to our faith in God and the Christian lifestyle. As long as we don’t make that the focus and priority of our lives such that it takes the place that is rightly God’s.

I like the clear way that God’s promise to the exiles is paraphrased in The Message: “When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen. When you come looking for me, you'll find me. Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed” (Jeremiah 29:12-14).

Perhaps God’s idea of prosperity for us is about seeking him, finding him, wanting him above all else and trusting him to guide us to a prosperous future: a life lived according to his values, and not society’s definition of what prosperity looks like.

Could it also be that in God’s economy, prosperity means our having faith, hope and love left at the end of each day, no matter what life throws at us? Let’s ask our Heavenly Father to support us to become that well-off.

Again, I wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

*James Burns is a Salvationist freelance writer from Dunstable Corps in the UK.