For those of us who have made a commitment to become disciples of Jesus Christ, we nearly all begin with some sort of a big surge of energy, hope and optimism. I mean, after all, didn’t we just have all our sins forgiven? How freeing is that!?! We are now in the eternal family of God! Paul tells us, ” if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Cor 5:17) I am new and I get to start over!
Then it happens.
We face opposition. If we are not raised in a household of believers, our family thinks we are either certifiably nuts, or at least too radical and want us to go back to being ‘normal.’ A different version of the same thing happens if one is from a family of disciples. Sometimes religious expectations can choke out our new-found joy.
It is tempting and normal to ask if following Jesus is worth it. Sometimes that is because there are other forces in opposition to us walking in victory and shining as a light for Christ.
Other times it is God. It is not that our creator has set out to take us down! Rather, The one who loves us more than we love ourselves, desires us to grow stronger in our love relationship and trust in Him. So, he allows things we consider unpleasant to test us and give us opportunities to trust the promises of God. It is an amazing thing is to look for God in the midst of the trails. In my experience, when I stopped asking God “why are you…?” and “what are you…?” and began to ask “Where are you in this?” then waited and watched… I found a whole new realm of trust and faith begin to open to me.
I found the following and it rang true to me. My prayer is you can read it, maybe more than once, and sit with it a bit. Maybe only one or two things will grab you. You are never alone when you are in Christ.
