In Christ Life is Not Easy

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There's a hectic verse tucked away in this text in Acts 9. It's verse 16. God appears to Ananias and tells him to take Paul under his wing, and He says this: “I will show him how much he must suffer for My name.” That's what God said about Paul.

Paul never bought into some spiritual vision that said if we give our lives to God, we will never struggle. He never fell for a prosperity gospel that said if we give our lives to God, we will get fortune and good health. He walked smack bang into the glory of God and with it came suffering.

Suffering with Purpose

So many people today live their lives with one objective—to avoid struggle. I want to be financially secure, healthy, and prosperous. And God comes after those - I'll follow Him as long as I don't lose my finances or my health.

But here was Paul, a well-off, prosperous Jewish man encountering Jesus, and his objectives in life changed completely. He desired to preach the gospel so much, even if it got him arrested, and even if he didn't eat for a few days, and even if it got him pelted with stones, and even if it got him killed—which it did—he wanted to share the gospel because it was that valuable to him.

True Gospel Priorities

What is most valuable in your life, friend? Security and wealth? Of course we need to be wise and look for those things, but they must not be our highest priorities.

I want Jesus above all. I want to share Him above all. When you choose that life, there's struggle, there's suffering even. But there is reward and joy and peace like nothing on earth could ever bring!

Contentment in Christ

In fact, Paul worded it this way in a letter to Timothy later in his life. 1 Timothy 6 from verse 6: “Godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap, and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you,” Paul says to Timothy, you person of God, “flee from all this and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.”

And so Paul, after this encounter with Christ, had his values turned on their heads. Friends, if God blesses you with health, with wealth, with prosperity, thank Him for it. But don't let those things ever come in the way of sharing the good news of Jesus and being a person who lives the Jesus life.

It's a difficult life. It's a life of suffering. But suffering for Jesus is a privilege, and it's a life filled with contentment.

Learn from Paul. Choose difficult but content.