Life is Tough - Expect It
Life is tough, as we said yesterday. And today I want to say we've got to expect that. We should never be surprised at tough times.
Perhaps we should even be expecting them to come. Jesus said, you will have trouble, remember? And Jesus was never obnoxiously optimistic. Have you ever met someone who tries so hard to be cheerful that you can tell from a mile away that it's fake? I've sadly experienced that in church a few times. I visited a church once and the people were so over friendly and cheerful that it just smacked of fakery from the beginning. They were trying so hard. I wanted to say to them, “Just relax. You don't have to pretend.” Our churches need to be real places. Yes, they need to be joyful places, but people who are going through tough times need to know that our churches are real and understand pain.
Facing Reality: Embracing Challenges in Faith
Jesus was a realist. He never lied to his people to make them feel better. He said it like it was. And that meant saying to his people “You will have trouble”. Don't expect the world to become a better place because you're a follower of Christ. Don't expect your problems to disappear when you come to Christ. Life is tough, and in fact, Jesus even said this in Luke 10: “I'm sending you out like lambs among wolves.” Life is tough when you're a lamb surrounded by wolves, right?
Another time Jesus said this in Matthew 6:34: “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Daily, Jesus says, there will be trouble. And in fact, when you say yes to Jesus, sometimes truly your troubles can seem to multiply. A friend of mine the other day said that he'd made a new commitment to Christ and to doing God's work, and almost immediately he felt under attack. Temptations came out of nowhere. Relationship struggles began to surface. And it was almost as if taking that step in faith brought on a whole new attack.
Spiritual Battles: Trusting in Christ's Support
There is a sense in which if we are not under spiritual attack, perhaps we aren't doing enough for God because the enemy is going to come at us if we're doing God's work.
And so, friends, life is tough. Expect it to be. But remember once again that Christ promises his help for this tough life. Expect trouble, expect difficulty, but also expect that Christ will be there with you, walking with you through the difficulties, and you'll be able to get through.
