Several weeks ago I was reading some thoughts from Henry Blackaby’s Experiencing God Day by Day and I was struck by his opening sentence. He writes, “The Christian life is not difficult.” At first I thought, not difficult, then Henry you must not know anything about the Christian life because sometimes I find it very difficult. But the more I listened to his reasoning and the more I thought about it, I realized he was right. He writes, “The same Christ who lived a perfect, obedient, and sinless life stands prepared to live it again through you.”
Often times we make the Christian life too difficult as we wrestle with knowing the will of God. Sometimes we agonize over what we should do in a particular situation. God’s will is not difficult; he has revealed his will to us in the Scriptures. You and I make living the Christian life difficult when we are unwilling to do what he tells us.
Do you wish to live according to God’s will? Here are three simple commands from Paul we can begin with. “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” I Thessalonians 5:16-18.
Before you and I can be joyful always, we must know where our source of joy is found. The source of my joy comes from knowing I am at peace with God through a relationship with Christ for the rest of eternity. I have continuous joy knowing “I am not my own, but belong body and soul to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ” (Q&A 1 Heidelberg Catechism). Regardless of what happens from day to day, regardless if I feel happy and satisfied or if I’m experiencing the pain of living in a fallen world, I can be joyful knowing that all things will work together for my salvation.
We must pray continually. First of all, prayer has a tremendous calming effect on us. Satan knows that too, that’s why he keeps distracting us from prayer. Prayer is an act of surrender. When we pray we are admitting our need for divine help. We are acknowledging God is in control. The sad part is, too often we use prayer as an emergency call to God. We first try doing things our way, and then after we have dug ourselves a big hole, we ask God to bail us out. I don’t know about you, but I have become weary of making prayer a last resort so I have been trying to practice continual prayer as my first response.
Finally, give thanks in all circumstances. God has richly blessed me in that some tasks of ministry come easy. However, the other day I was feeling frustrated with the Vista Cohort project I’m working on; pulling all the pieces together has been a challenge. Then it was like the Holy Spirit said to me, “Mike, I’ll bet there is someone out there who wishes they could be doing what you are.” He was right (of course the Spirit is always right) and so I spent a moment thanking God, and counting it pure joy, for giving me the opportunity to do the task, even if it was a struggle.
Living the Christian life isn’t that difficult. God has clearly revealed his will to you and me. Now it’s a just matter of giving Jesus permission to live out his life through us.
Thanking God for all of you in all circumstances,
Mike Altena