Not the Easy Way

Tuesday, January 27th
Not the Easy Way
By: Pastor Chrissy Cooney

I had a rough day yesterday. The kind of day that makes you feel tired inside and out. The kind of day that made me want to put my feet up, wrap a warm blanket around myself, and sit with people that I know love me.

At the end of the day, as I lamented over my hurt feelings, I found myself saying out loud, “it should be easier than this.”

Immediately the Holy Spirit reminded me of all that Paul endured.

Paul was flogged, beaten with a rod, stoned, and imprisoned. He was shipwrecked on three different occasions! At times he suffered from hunger, thirst, and cold. And he had people who hated him, betrayed him, he even had people band together in a pact to kill him.

And he didn’t complain.

In fact, when the believers were weeping on his behalf, he said, “Why all this weeping? You are breaking my heart! I am ready not only to be jailed at Jerusalem but even to die for the sake of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 21:13; p.98 in Messiah).

Lord, forgive me for complaining over my little inconveniences and hurt feelings.
We like things to be easy.

But the truth is that if we are following Jesus and obeying His command to love, then we are not taking the easy way.

There will be hard days and hurt feelings. There will be moments when, out of obedience, we’re stepping out of our comfort zone and taking huge leaps of faith. There will be times when the Lord brings uncomfortable correction. We will be betrayed by friends, and we will give something up so someone else can have it.

And Lord willing, there will be times when we are persecuted for His sake.