I don’t want an easy life
2018 was one of the most difficult years of my life. A major career change (involving a significant reduction of income), and a property development project that didn’t go as planned, caused my family an unhealthy level of stress and uncertainty.
Our emotions felt like they were on the big dipper rollercoaster and, at times, we feared for our future. However, we believe the steps we took, and the decisions we made, were led by God and that we were being obedient to Him. In that respect, we wouldn’t change a thing.
Can you spot the paradox in what I’ve written above?
Surely, if you are obedient to God’s call and direction, and you walk in his steps, then stress, uncertainty and fear are not emotions you should be experiencing.
However, I am learning that this couldn’t be further from the truth. A life of faith doesn’t mean an easy life. In fact, as I have experienced this year, a life of faith results in the exact opposite to an easy life. I have learned that the following statement is absolutely true in all aspects in a life of faith.
IF LIFE IS THAT EASY, HOW CAN YOU BE SURE THAT GOD HAD A PART TO PLAY IN IT?
There are many examples throughout scripture of God being the centre of something extraordinary, and as a result, it's absolutely clear that God was at work in those circumstances. God certainly wasn’t in the centre of any “ordinary” and “uneventful” stories in the bible. They were all extraordinary.
I was recently listening to a podcast that referred to when Jesus walked on water in Mark Chapter 6. The story follows immediately after that famous miracle when Jesus fed the 5000, with just 5 loaves and 2 fish, the packed lunch of a child. Jesus sent the disciples to Bethsaida on the other side of the lake in a boat, while he dismissed the crowd and then went up onto the mountainside to pray.
Verse 48 says:
He saw that they were in serious trouble, rowing hard and struggling against the wind and waves. About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. He intended to go past them, but when they saw him walking on the water, they cried out in terror, thinking he was a ghost. They were all terrified when they saw him. But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage! I am here!” Then he climbed into the boat, and the wind stopped.
They were totally amazed…
Mark 6:48-51 NLT
There are many of us who find ourselves in this same situation today. We are walking as Jesus has directed us to do and are facing a significant storm in our lives. We feel like we are rowing against the wind.
Now I know you have had moments of thinking, how can God be with me but the wind is against me? But it's the resistance that we face that leads us to revelation. The confirmation of the word of God in your life, is the resistance of the enemy that shows you you’re on the right track.
I believe that if the wind was behind you, then you would thank the wind, not God, for getting you across the lake to Bethsaida. If it was easy, then we would think the wrong things.
I have learned through 2018 that the wind is against you, so that you know that it's the Lord’s presence with you that makes you successful.
We see this clearly in verse 51: Then he climbed into the boat, and the wind stopped. Jesus didn’t even speak to the wind and command it to stop. His presence in the boat was sufficient for the storm to stop.
If the wind wasn’t against you, you wouldn’t need the Lord to come along side you and step into your boat and, by His very presence, cause the wind to stop.
It takes faith to keep rowing against the wind when you are in the storm and can’t see the shore. But as we continue to be faithful and obedient to God, we can be sure that he is in the boat with us and we will get to the other side of the lake and, when we do so, it will be because of God’s presence in our lives.
I don’t want an easy life, because I want to do something absolutely extraordinary that can only be attributed to God working through me in all the challenges I face on the journey. I want to be amazed by what God has done.
written by Richard Evans