You may have seen from the last two posts on this blog that things have not been so good lately, psychologically speaking. I try to be nothing if not honest, and post my heart from where I am at that time. True, things are not always great. But I know without a doubt that no matter how good things may not be, I know people that have things far worse than I do.
I think about the friend I saw in concert a few weeks ago. She lost her husband, a dear friend, four years ago, and had her entire world turned upside down. She recalled the whole story and talked how she entered a state of clinical depression. She is a real encouragement to me. Here is a link to TaRanda's website. You need to check out her new CD, and definitely listen to the song "Deepest Praise."
I also think about a family that in the last week here in Ashe County has lost everything to a fire. A Wilkes County family that lost a little girl that was born no larger than a cell phone. My wife has had ear trouble since childhood and faces surgery in a couple of weeks.
There are lots of issues going on, and they're not just mine.
The problem with Christianity in America today is that the fringe has become the mainstream, and many people believe a lie about the Christian life. They think if you declare certain things over your life, speak a certain way, do certain things, God will bless you and you will have no troubles. Jesus never said that. He said "In this world you shall have tribulation" (John 16:33). I Peter 4:12 says "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you."
God never called us to ease.
God has called us to hardship.
Consider the words he said to Moses in Exodus 10: "Go to Pharoah...for I will harden his heart." In other words, go to someone that isn't going to listen to you. Does not sound like my idea of fun. Neither, of course, does leading a nation of people that do nothing but complain, question your authority, disobey the rules, challenge you at every step, and make you so mad they cause you to not receive your promise.
Consider Ezekiel, and this from Ezekiel 2: "And he said to me, 'Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. The descendants also are impudent and stubborn: I send you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’" Ezekiel dealt with hardships,to be certain. God asked him to eat bread baked on dung. For goodness sakes, to show him His plans for Israel, God took Ezekiel's WIFE from him, and then told Him not to grieve. That is a life of hardship.
Of course, we don't have to look at the Bible for examples. Think about the missionaries that have been to your church. Where has God commanded them to? Think about where they have had to go to, what they have had to do without, what persecutions they face because of what they believe and where they are. Surely, if you believe the popular theology of the American church, they aren't living right.
I also think about my dad. He turned 86 this year. He still pastors the church he came to in 1970. This church is far away from the beaten path. He wasn't called to be famous, to be rich, to be popular. He was called to preach the Word of God in an out-of-the-way place in Caldwell County. He still faithfully does it.
The people I mentioned- why did they do what they do? Because they realized they were called to hardship. Because they realized at the end (along with many times at the beginning and the middle) the glory of God.
Moses started by witnessing a burning bush.
Ezekiel started with a wheel inside a wheel.
He knows your path is going to be hard, and He wants you to know that it is worth it.
That verse at the beginning from Jesus? Remember the rest: "but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." Hang on, friends. Hang with me. It will be worth it in the end.
