This morning, my pastor reminded us of a verse in Hebrews that really struck a chord with me, especially following the past few hectic and exhausting weeks of college.
See, in the same weekend I had two very different experiences--completely opposite of each other, in fact. On Thursday night I had to stay up all night to work on a project and was absolutely miserable. Part of the reason--and really BIG part of the reason--was that I saw no end in sight. I knew the whole weekend would likely be just like that night, and that I'd get little sleep and do lots of work. I felt that I had nothing to look forward to for a very long time, which didn't help getting through those few hours very easy.
Just days later, on Sunday night, I was facing the same predicament. Oddly enough, however, I was in a far better mood, and the night seemed shorter and more feasible than the earlier, miserable night that began the weekend. And, again, a HUGE part of my attitude was based on what I had to look forward to; I knew that once I'd turned everything in on Monday afternoon, I would be free to do whatever I liked (which by that point was to sleep without setting any alarms!). The end was in sight, and for that pleasure set before me I endured that night, which really should have been miserable just like the other had been.
In a similar (but far worse and greater!) way, Jesus did the same thing. Hebrews 12:2 says that He endured the whole ordeal on the cross "for the joy set before him." He could see the end in sight, and He deemed it worth enough to go through unjust pain, shame, and humiliation just to attain that end: that He might rejoin God the Father in heaven and enable mankind to join them instead of being doomed to spend eternity (the longest time) in torment.
My pain was nothing to His, and my reward seems so shallow; but, in a small way, I now understand what it means to endure just for the result. My sleep that night was marvelous.
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