Misunderstood, You’re Not Alone

And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man." … And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, "See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise." Mark 8:31-33, Mark 10:32-34

“This long journey to Jerusalem and the cross will apparently be a lonely one for the Savoir, for He’s making it without the full understanding and support of Hid disciples. They continue to be guided by selfish ambition, so He must continue to teach and instruct them and confront their arrogance.”
C J Mahaney – Humility: True Greatness

Have you even been misunderstood by those around you? Whether it is your family, friends, people you work with or know from church. You look to follow after God, and His leading, but others, even Christians, seem to want to contradict what God is calling you too. You’re not sure exactly where God is leading you too, but you know what He wants you to do today, or at least you believe you know what He is calling you too. Even though it is not absolutely clear, you know inside yourself that God is leading you, but not always in the ways of this world. Take Martin Luther for example, before his calling to reform the church, he promised to become a monk, but his father objected. He wanted him to become a lawyer, he had a sharp mind and could have been a great lawyer, but God had other plans, he was misunderstood. Or Dietrich Bonhoeffer, when visiting American, some asked him to stay till the war was over, but he said he had to return home to Germany, he couldn’t go back after the war and restore the church and its people if he was not willing to suffer with them during World War II, he was misunderstood.

Many have been called of God, or have a sense of His direction in their lives, but others try to redirect them. They try to move them in a way which seems right to man, a worldly wisdom, mixed with some Christianity, and common sense, to a place of safety. But we know God doesn’t work in these ways, He works according to His plan, which at times calls us to do things very contrary to what seems good and right to the human mind and spirit. Some people have become missionaries, preachers, made career changes, married, stayed single, or many other areas which God has moved them in, but those around them were like Peter, rebuking them, but in fact where fighting against God’s plan. Oh what a hard place to be in for the disciple, on one side, he or she has their friends, family and other Christians trying to convince them of a safer course, a saner path, or a what seems like a more painless direction. But in fact it is quite the opposite, for to oppose God’s leading is a dangerous place to be. Common sense is to be seen as the right thing to do when the mind set on the things of this world. To the disciple who sees a heavenly vision for their life, they see things quite different. Even though they don’t know what lies ahead, they do know what the wrong course of action is, even though they can’t explain it to others. Just as Jesus couldn’t bring His disciples in line with His Father’s plans for Him, so we have the same exact dilemma.

Sometimes we must go it alone when, we must follow God verses the wisdom of man. Jesus wasn’t swayed by His disciples when it came to His suffering and death, He set His face towards Jerusalem, the place where He would suffer greatly. The same was true for Paul, he had know when he went to Jerusalem he would suffer, he said in Acts 20:22-23, “And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.” But God’s leading is not always connected to suffering; He calls many of us today to do things that are contrary to the world’s wisdom which doesn’t include suffering. Jesus and Paul’s Jerusalem meant suffer, but a suffering to help others, to set them free. Your Jerusalem maybe a different type of experience, you may bring glory to God and help others which may be apart from suffering, not a part of suffering. I know a lady who has been prompted by God to take a sabbatical from group Bible studies and reading Christian books. A time to set aside to study and read God’s Word to come to a deeper knowledge of God, I can understand this because it happened to me a few years back. But others, who can’t understand such ideas, may try to persuade her not to follow such a course of action. They may try to attempt to bring her around to their thinking; a thinking that is focused on man’s view of faith. Or others may think it is strange or crazy thinking that God is speaking to her in such a way. But she knows what the right thing to do is, and she is following God, even when others may oppose her.

What about you, what is your Jerusalem? What is God calling you to do, or think differently about that others may see as strange, crazy, or even unwise? We as people want the safe way, we want a life free of emotional pain, stress, commitment and we think others should follow after such reasoning. So they try their best to convince us to do what they think is right, or what they would do if they were in our place. God may not be calling you to the mission field, or to preach His Word from the pulpit, but whatever He is leading you to, it is just as important.

How we respond is very important, we have two ways to choose from. We can play the victim, ”Oh I am so misunderstood, everyone is against me.” We can live in self-pity and try to convince others how hard we have it. We can look for others to feel sorry for us, or complain about them to ourselves or others. Or we can stay the course and look to God for direction and leading, going to His Word for wisdom and test what we think He is showing us. We must not be swayed by public opinion or the approval of others.  Think about Jesus who set His face towards Jerusalem, He knew He would not have the support of others when it came to His suffering and death on the cross, but He didn’t spend His time trying to convince them, He told them the truth and moved forward. He put His dependency upon God, not man. He had those closes to His oppose His mission. He was alone in this decision, and was left by His disciples when He suffered the pain of His plan. But… There is always a but… He was not total alone; His Father was with Him, even when others like Peter tried to move Him away from what lied ahead. And it is the same with us; we do not walk alone when others look to lead us in another way of thinking and acting. We have God working in us, and through us, keeping us in line with His plan with the power of the Holy Spirit. We need to stay the course, not being moved by the appeal of worldly wisdom, putting our trust in God’s plan, and not playing the victim, but move ahead with God’s leading, even when it is a lonely path. Just remember, Jesus walked this path before, and He walks it with us today.

William Carey was a man who started out as a shoe maker, and was turned into a missionary who changed the view of missions; he is called the father of modern missions. I am sure many during his time thought he was only to be a shoe maker, but God had other plans. As you read the following statement about him, think to yourself, what is God calling you out from and what is God calling you too. Will you be persuaded by the Voice of God, or the voice of man?

“William Cary was a shoe-maker, one of those common people, but he was not content to remain a common man. It was not an uneducated and untrained ministry that led the first great attack in Christ’s name on the ancient religions and superstitions of Bengal; but a man who was consecrated energy and capacity, as well as by devotion to the cause, was an instrument prepared for the great work to which he was called.”  -Sir Andrew Fraser