Easy

My mind rushes back to when my husband and I embarked on the biggest challenge of our lives, running a small business.  It was exciting at the beginning, but through many trials and roadblocks, (entwined I admit with many blessings too) there was a time when we almost gave up.  But my mother-in-law gave us the best advice – “You didn’t get into this to give up.”  So, we kept going.  But in my own naive mind, I kept thinking, “Well, if we make it to this plateau, life will be easy.”  However, you most likely guessed, it wasn’t.   I think you will admit that we all have prayed for life to get easier at times.   But a recent quote that I found puts that thought in a different perspective.  “If all that you’re praying for is an easy life, what you’re really praying for is the absence of life.”  Eye-opening, isn’t it?  If I wished for all my past and future troubles to disappear, what kind of person would I be looking at in the mirror every day?  If it was all easy, I wouldn’t truly appreciate all the small and large gifts I’ve been given during my lifetime or understand all the glory goes to God.   If everything was always easy, void of troubles and challenges, what fun would it be to celebrate our good times.  Frankly, reading about all the trials and challenges that Jesus sacrificed for you and me, along with the thousands (and continues) of Christian martyrs along the way, I should be honored for all the mountains that I have climbed on my journey of faith.  God has given us the strength to handle all our individual mountains along the way – HIM!  Maybe we don’t always understand why our life isn’t as easy as the next person, or maybe we sometimes feel sorry for ourselves when the word easy isn’t within reach.  But I would challenge all of us to see our challenges as little detours that lead us to follow the best roadmap.  Jesus is just preparing us for the life that only He desires for each of us.  The challenge that His Father gave Him to change the world was no easy task, but He did it for you and me.  Don’t we love Jesus enough to pick ourselves up and keep trying every day? 

“You answered me, ‘We have sinned against the Lord.  We will go up and fight just as the Lord our God commanded us. Then each of you put on his weapons of war and thought it would be easy to go up into the hill country.’”  Deuteronomy 1:41