Personally, the times of suffering and hardships are times of edification. A time where my focus is directed back to God and where He can guide me to his will while my heart is humbled. Through those bad experiences it causes us to remember that God is always with us and is not going to leave us even though at times we choose to ignore Him. That His love is endless and we are so unworthy of it.
The best way that I can think of it is that we are warriors for Jesus, and that we need to keep up the fight even when it gets tough. Instead of going back to the barricade, why not keep on fighting. To give your whole heart into the fight when you see the enemy coming. Looking at the odds that seem over powering and realizing that God can totally conquer it. It gives us strength to keep going in the long hall. Dare to fight, dare to risk, dare to live. Because it's when we are willing to put ourselves on the line that we truly discover God and His will for us.
Thanks for the honest comments on following Jesus! Keep the fire burning brother!
ReplyDeleteWhat I have found over my years of living (I know... soooo long), is that if you are not being persecuted or challenged in your faith that you really aren't growing, or making such a difference for God that there is opposition.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your perspective regarding the cost of following Jesus. However, I don't think I know many Christians who say that following Jesus is meant to be easy. I do think people subconsciously believe that following Jesus is meant to be easy though, as we often change direction when we see difficulty ahead of us. Jesus walked toward difficulty, we must follow.
ReplyDeleteI think the implications of being a warrior for Jesus are important ideas for us to have in mind in terms of the way we look at living life as spiritual warfare. I do think we need to careful not to speak that way among non-Christians, lest they think we are against them. We are spiritual warriors on their behalf!
Good post. Good thoughts.