It's weird, but it seems that the most common conversation that I've been having lately has been about how difficult it is to follow God's calling. I have come to particularly enjoy the poster that shows the face of Jesus and has written across the bottom the words
"I never said it would be easy."
I can think of that poster every time that life seems tough, but I don't know that I ever really let it sink in.
Now don't get me wrong, life for me right now is not falling apart. I have a job. Actually, I have three(ish). I have a beautiful wife, parents that love me, and am not lacking in friends who care about me. By all appearances my life is good. Yet I find myself struggling to get through each day. I am exhausted. I can't seem to bring myself to get into the Word, or even to pray. It seems that the harder that life gets, the more difficult it is to turn to the very source of life, love, and energy that we have. The downward spiral continues, and all of a sudden you realize that you haven't done a quiet time in a month, opened your journal since before Christmas, or even posted a blog entry since February. You've been preoccupied, and life has passed you by.
I was talking with my friend the other day. We'll call her L.W. (Not that her anonymity needs to be kept, but because I didn't tell her I would write about her). She is passionate about heading overseas as a missionary, and she is basically in her last month of seminary. It seems as though she is so close to getting there. But all of a sudden the brakes seem to have been slammed. She has no job (the one she had was seasonal), her parents can no longer afford to help her financially, and debt is rapidly accruing. She's having to pay for school (the very school that she is attending to enter the ministry) with a credit card, and she has no clue how her rent or bills will be paid. In our conversation she said
"I really want to follow God's call for my life, but sometimes He makes it so hard."
It's as though He makes it too hard to follow Him. We may be willing, but sometimes it's as though He is trying to make us unwilling.
But that's just it. Sometimes following Him is hard. But then again, He's worth going through the hard times for. We are told in James 1 that perseverance in these trials produces endurance. These trials come from God as He prepares us for service. Entering the mission field will not be easy. Going to a completely foreign place, thousands of miles from family and friends, unable to communicate with the locals, incapable of stomaching the food that is served, and constantly facing some sort of opposition will not be easy. But if that is your calling, it is worth suffering through the hard times. It's not that He is trying to make us unwilling. I'd say that it's His way of proving to us that He is worth serving. Through it all, God ultimately seeks that His name be glorified.
Just look through the Psalms. There were times where the Psalmist was greatly suffering, even angry at God. Yet even the Psalms of lament end with resounding praise because God - the God that we have the opportunity to serve - is faithful. So we praise God, even when it's hard.
And sometimes it's hard.
