In this crazy faith journey we call everyday life, there comes a point where you meet some resistance. I hope you are not like me and want to take a hike literally in the opposite direction. Yeah...that happens. I suffer from a fight or flight syndrome when a lot of resistance that comes across my path. I tend to forget that God allows struggles to "grow me up".
Sometimes I view opposition as a sign of being out of God's will. Then I start to question, or doubt. But in reality it isn't that at all. What if you viewed resistance as being smack-dab in the middle of God's will? Perhaps satan is fighting you so hard because you’re so close to what God wants.
The idea is that...if it's hard, it could be God's will. We assume that if God is it then it has to be easy. God doesn't always clear the path of least resistance. Read the Bible. It's filled with those who were called to follow God and had a difficult and hard life.
My question is that if we are called to follow Jesus, and we want to be like Jesus, even wear Jesus on our necks and chests, then why...when we encounter trouble, resistance or whatever you want to call it, do we cry and complain when we are asked to follow God through the suffering too?
If you’re encountering resistance right now, don’t take the first flight to Timbuktu. Don't back down just because it gets a little hard. It just might be a sign that you’re heading in the right direction. The direction that God has for you, the path of most and best resistance. The path that reveals His character. Use resistance as catalyst for action. Let God change you, let Him grow you up, change your character, so you see His.
3 comments:
Thank you for those inspiring words. I often find myself questioning God's will when I hit a few bumps in the road. Sometimes we just have to remember God will bring us into the promised land, but in His way and timing, not ours. A pastor once told us the Christmas story from a perspective I had never heard. God promised Mary and Joseph they would raise the Messiah yet for years they are chased in the opposite direction by the opposition that the enemy throws at them. It takes them all the way to Egypt and back but eventually His promise is fulfilled. Even the cross was a promise fulfilled in a way no one thought, yet now we have life. Praise God for His will!
Jennifer, it's true we often look at resistance as trouble, but we do have God's promises to cling to. And that gets us through the tough times. Thanks for reading.
So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you are willing to suffer for Christ, you have decided to stop sinning. (NLT - 1 Peter 4:1)
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