A few weeks ago my best friend was discussing life with me, something we do quite often… They had been in a tough situation and were trying to weed through a tough decision. One that came with potential for greatness and potential for drama. My friend looked at me in the conversations and said, “Ive come to the conclusion that nothing is easy in this life… I think as Christians we are too often lead to believe that if something is of God that it should be easy.” My next thought was ‘like listening to a bush was easy…’ But my friend was right… We have been taught for too long that if something is what God wants it will come flying out a the blue like the Geico pig on a skateboard and we will just sail behind it shouting “WEEEEEEE” all the way home… Reality is Nothing is easy.

My husband and I had the best eighth anniversary this year. We were countries apart… before you make judgments  about my marriage, be careful. You have to know that my husband is first and foremost my buddy, which means I want what is best for him in all things, which means sometimes my wants take a back seat. For years I have prayed for opportunities for him to have a missions experience in a third world country and after 10 years of knowing him, God gave him the opportunity. I am elated, there is no way I would selfishly say no. Anniversaries will come and go, but this one will be special, not because we are eating a dinner or taking a cruise but because he is experiencing something new that I know God will use to grow him.

For his trip my buddy had to get several shots and then Malaria pills… Nothing is easy… Malaria pills should have been just another thing checked off the list. For weeks I called health departments, doctors offices, walk-in clinics. With each turn we found a new challenge. Why would a healthy fellow suddenly not be able to get a script? Who knows. Our GP had attitude about it and prescribed the wrong medicine. The health department couldn’t write scripts. The state travel health place would cost us over 200 just to get the prescription and he would have to take off a full day of work. The walk-in clinics that say they will do it either not had the training or magically closed early every time he went. After over three weeks I had enough… The solution was over 250 miles away, with a willing doctor, who we met through a good friend. Shesh.. just thinking about it still makes my skin crawl…. But just because we had a hard time getting the script or because it was our anniversary didn’t mean that my husband was not supposed to go. For someone to say that would be silly…

But when it comes to bigger questions why do obstacles become reasons not follow a direction we feel God leading? What do obstacles really say about God’s will for us? What happens when an obstacle makes us doubt, when drama wears us out, or fears freak us out?

We draw conclusions that if God really wants us to step up and follow, the sea will split, bushes will light on fire and talk, light from heaven would blind us and an audible voice would speak… We look at Biblical “heroes” and we seem to think they had it easy… Hee Hee that makes me laugh. Was it easy for Moses to lead a nation based on a conversation with  God through a bush? Yes, he heard from God, but the obstacles kept building. Each one God worked through and then they ended up pinned between an angry army and a great sea… What??? Do you think Moses automatically knew they would make it? Think about that.  Even after the walls of the sea were held do you think they boldly walked and no one feared that fish would fall on them, that they would soon be choking on water, or that the army wouldn’t just follow right behind. Was it  really easy for Saul when he was blinded and God spoke to him to get up and find the disciples he swore he would murder?Of course they were afraid of him. Saul had to throw away everything to be the Paul God made him to be… Talk about obstacles. Did rejection, ship wreck, prison and plots of death mean that he just stop following his missionary call? I think not. Paul instead wrote about the privilege to suffer for Christ… Speaking of Jesus… Was any of His life really easy? That’s not the reality he told His disciples about,  “In the World you will have trouble, But I’ll give you my peace..”

Living Differently means I accept that nothing is easy, but I trust the God of the “weird” peace in the midst of fog, turmoil, and obstacle… I can’t let fear, doubts, and drama get in the way of following…

We are often distracted by the world’s version of a god who calls us and then plows a path through a Kansas cornfield with a bulldoser. When our reality “looks like” the Congo with a pocket knife, we just assume we were wrong about what God said. God sometimes does bulldose the cornfields, but we were looking for space ship crop circles. Other times we look back it feels like Kansas but when it happened we acted like it was the Congo.

Since the conversation with my friend I have thought about their particular situation being covered with potential drama, potential hard ship, and potential failure, but is potential reality?  No. Should those things determine their decisions and steps? No, but it’s hard to throw off fear and pretend we are “above the drama”. We could spend days talking about seeking God’s will and following it. I am not really getting into the how’s Of this today. But if we determine difficulty is a sign that the proverbial door is shut, then we are potentially missing God’s true work in us, through us, despite us, and around us. Jesus promised His peace would go with those who followed Him. What an awesome promise when we live in a reality where nothing is easy…

Living Differently means I accept that nothing is easy, but I trust the God of the “weird” peace in the midst of fog, turmoil, and obstacle… I can’t let fear, doubts, and drama get in the way of following Him…