“For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, so that you won’t grow weary and lose heart” (Hebrews 12:3 HCSB).
No matter how difficult life becomes, we can be secure in knowing that Jesus is familiar with the problems and issues we face. For instance, what if we were to compare the pressures of our lives to Jesus’ experience in the Garden of Gethsemane? Remember that it was there where His perspiration became like drops of blood as he prayed and contemplated the immediate future that awaited Him. Thus, it seems unlikely that our challenges exceed the struggles Jesus faced in respect to His approaching crucifixion.
A few minutes spent with a work such as Foxe’s Book Of Martyrs may also bring a fresh perspective to our view of the stresses we experience in life. This is important when we consider the natural human tendency to magnify the intensity of our personal struggles. The standard we use to measure their severity influences the accuracy of our perception.
This is not to say that our challenges are insignificant, or illusionary. Nor does it mean that we should ignore the problems we experience in life, or pretend they don’t exist. Instead, we can ensure that we accurately assess such things when we measure them against the example Jesus set for us.
The New Testament epistle of 1 Peter approaches this idea from a different perspective…
“For what credit is it if you sin and are mistreated and endure it? But if you do good and suffer and so endure, this finds favor with God. For to this you were called, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving an example for you to follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:20-21 NET).
Much like a weary athlete who continues to press on towards the finish line, the knowledge that Jesus has set an example for us helps provide us with the proper mindset. The Apostle Paul also touched upon this idea in his letter to the Galatian church: “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Galatians 6:9).
Paul echoed a similar theme in his letters to the churches at Corinth and Thessalonica as well…
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).
“But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good” (2 Thessalonians 3:13).
Therefore, we can find strength in the counsel given to us here in Hebrews 12:3 whenever we grow weary of the trials and oppositions we encounter.