Don't Hope for the Easy Life!

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.  (Psalm 34:19)

In today’s world, it’s hard to find anything that doesn’t speak to making life easier, relaxation, free time, or doing what you want.  We’re told to put money away for retirement, so that we can have tens of years of free time to our leisure.  Technology is always for the next big thing of making things easier or doing our job for us.  Our entire world seems to be focused towards having a happy, easy life of doing exactly as we please.

Don’t get me wrong, I also wish life could be simple, easy.  If money only grew on trees.  If that certain person would just be nice.  If I didn’t have to do…  If I didn’t have to feel…  If only I…

But this year or so, the Lord has been teaching me otherwise.  Stripping away my selfishness and attuning my heart more towards him.  Let me tell you: sometimes it is overwhelming.  Sometimes I almost feel crushed by what he is revealing to me… Almost.

My life looks absolutely nothing like it did one year ago from today.  And I doubt it will resemble anything that it does today in one year.  I’m still wondering where July went …but I digress…

I was recently reading in Acts and came across this section of Bible verses of Paul’s stoning at Lystra:

But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.  (Acts 14:19-23, emphasis added)

Paul was pushed to the limits.  People actually thought he was dead!  But he gets up and preaches the next day.  But what does he preach after the gospel?  He encouraged “them to continue in the faith, and [said] that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”

I know that I’ve said it before, but it bears to have continuous reminding in today’s society, in our lives… in my life.  The Christian’s life will not be easy.  We should not want it to be easy.  Through tribulations our faith is increased.  Through tribulations we receive blessings.  Through tribulations people come to Jesus as their savior.  Through tribulations we become more like Christ.

Everything that we should want to become through Christ almost always comes with tribulations.  It doesn’t come with that pay raise.  It doesn’t come with that vacation.  It doesn’t come with perfect relationships.  Not that we can’t enjoy those blessings the Lord pours out on us.  But we should not elevate them to the place of status that they are so quickly becoming in our world.

So with that, I give my plea: don’t hope for the easy life fellow Christians!

Follow God with all your heart.  Do the things he wants you to do, even if you don’t see how they are earthly possible (just a hint: they’re not earthly possible!).  Do the things you never thought you could.  Rejoice in your sufferings.  Rejoice in the ways that life doesn’t go as we planned.  Give thanks to God for ALL your life, the lifting up and the crushing down.  And most of all, stay constantly in prayer and in the Bible.  Our hope is in the Lord, and that is the greatest place that it can be!

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.  (Romans 5:1-5)

through His grace alone!

Sarah