Recently, a group of us went on a hike in the mountains of Guatemala. It wasn’t the longest hike. It wasn’t even the hardest hike, but it wore me out.
In one section in particular, I started to second-guess my decision to go. My legs were burning. The pain didn’t seem worth it.
Then I turned around and started walking backwards and everything changed.
Instead of looking up the incline I was able to look down at what I’d already accomplished.
I recognized that the higher I climbed, the more I could see. I realized that the pain was going to be worth it.
Life can be no different.
Sometimes the Lord allows us to go through a season that isn’t very much fun. Maybe it hurts, maybe it’s painful. Maybe we want to give up completely.
We look to God and beg Him to stop the pain when what He really wants of us is to turn around and enjoy the view.
Instead of looking at our problem, God wants us to see our progress.
He wants us to endure pain for a season so that we can eventually bear more fruit. He wants us to rely on Him more than ourselves. Occasionally that means taking away the things that we lean on instead of Him.
God wants us to trust Him.
To trust that His way is better than our way. So often though, we don’t trust Him because what He says doesn’t make sense to us. His way looks or feels difficult.
Simply put, our way is more comfortable than His way.
It says in scripture that, “The foolishness of God is wiser than man.” 1 Corinthians 1:25
It says that His ways are higher than our ways, His thoughts higher than our thoughts. Isaiah 55:9
Yet we make decisions based off our logic, our budget, or our feelings instead of making the decision based on what the Lord directs us to do.
And what the Lord directs us to do isn’t always easy.
Doing what God asks of us doesn’t always bring comfort, safety and security.
Sometimes doing what He asks us to be is painful.
Ask the first century disciples how comfortable it was being where God wanted them.
Jesus told them to take no food, no clothes, no money, and no tent. And then Jesus sent them out with a blessing. And what happened?
Luke was hung from an olive tree. Thomas was pierced with a spear, tortured and then cooked alive. Mathew was stabbed in the back. Philip was tortured and then crucified. Bartholomew was beaten to death. Matthias was stoned and then beheaded. James was thrown off the temple in Jerusalem and then clubbed to death. And Peter was crucified upside down at his own request.
None of that sounds very safe. Yet, all of those men were exactly where God wanted them to be, doing what He asked them to do. They lived radical lives full of passion. What is senseless to us was ordinary to them.
If your still not convinced, ask the Christians in Iran, India, Egypt, China, or North Korea how safe it is to follow Jesus. Ask them if being a Christian means they’ll be prosperous. Ask them if accepting Christ means they will live in safety. Ask them if listening to the Father means their life is easier than it was before. The answer you will likely get to all of those questions would be no.
So should we do things to purposefully make our lives more difficult? Sacrifice comfort and first world luxuries in the name of the God?
Absolutely not.
The Lord is interested in us obeying what He asks of us.
“For the Lord desires obedience over sacrifice.” -1 Samuel 15:22
No more, no less.
