I've been reading Jane Eyre for the first time and I feel like I've just passed one of the most important parts of the story. If you haven't read it, I don't want to spoil anything, but it is kind of a long story so it doesn't really matter. Anywho, Jane finds out that Mr. Rochester is not the unblemished man she believed him to be and has to make the decision of whether she will stay with him at Thornfield or start a new life elsewhere. Of course he pleads with her and tells the truth about his story that he had been hiding from her and pours out his heart in hopes that she will stay. Jane has some profound thoughts that I think we could learn a lesson from. She doesn't have anyone in her life that would suffer the consequences and fallen reputations from her staying with him. Jane asks herself, "Who in the world cares for you? or who will be injured by what you do?" And she stands resolute with a confident, "I care for myself." Sometimes we don't give ourselves enough say in what is best for our life, we let others dictate our goals, plans, and even self-esteem. Satan tries to cloud our mind with what we don't have and long for rather than focusing on what is most important, our own well-being. God cares for us so we should care for us.
Jane goes on to say, "Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour... If at my individual convenience I might break them, what would be their worth?... Preconceived opinions, foregone determinations, are all I have at this hour to stand by: there I plant my foot." This is such a great reminder and encouragement to me. We all have standards and sometimes in a desperate hour think about the compromise to lower these for personal satisfaction. Why have standards and values if you don't regard them as the law for your life? In times of temptation, all we have to remember are the Words that God has given us as a guide and that should be where we have our foundation.
"Your words have supported those who were falling; you encouraged those with shaky knees." Job 4:4
"You are my refuge and shield; your word is my source of hope." Psalm 119:114
