Following Jesus Is Hard (But Here’s Why It’s Worth It)
It’s easy to sing worship songs every Sunday. It’s easy to sit in church every single gathering and pretend to be listening and digesting every preaching. It’s easy to volunteer and serve whenever you have free time.
It’s easy to post bible messages or inspiring “Christian” quotes. It’s easy to listen to non-stop gospel praise songs 24/7 on Spotify.
It’s easy to say “I’m a Christian,” to preach when needed, to pretend when your heart doesn’t feel like it, to show off and do “good” deeds when eyes are staring.
It’s easy to raise your hands to heaven with tears on your eyes singing of how much you love God when all is going well. It’s easy to share the goodness of Jesus when days are brighter and worries aren’t on its way to meet you.
It’s easy to testify to all the great blessings and provisions He has given you when miracles are left and right, when your family is well when your job is flourishing, when your relationships are healed, when breakthroughs are happening. It’s easy to feel His presence when you’re in an atmosphere that desires to meet him.
But you know what’s hard?
It’s creating time to meet Him wherever you are.
It’s encountering a hungry beggar and giving them something when you have nothing. It’s praying for people when you can’t even bring yourself to worship. It’s seeing the face of God on difficult people. It’s caring for the people who don’t even treat you well.
It’s the choice you make every day to stay with Him and choose Him every single day. It’s the daily commitment to read His word and make time to hear as He speaks.
It’s saying I love You and meaning it. It’s raising your hands for Him and not for the people. It’s singing songs of praises on a busy night at work. It’s taking time of your day to actually pause in His presence.
It’s making Jesus a daily choice not just a Sunday habit. It’s making His works and heart famous, not ours. It’s testifying to His greatness, not ours. It’s mirroring back all the favor to His grace and not to our own hard work and “hard-earned Christianity” because the truth is, we didn’t earn anything.
It’s trying harder to overcome your struggle when all you see is your failure. It’s hearing the His voice when all you have on repeat is self-doubt and self-condemnation.
What’s really hard is believing God’s promises when all you can see is darkness. It’s being grateful when you don’t get what you prayed for. It’s continuously hoping for a breakthrough in a season of pure waiting. It’s praising Him in the midst of the pain. It’s lifting your hands when all you want to do is give up. It’s trusting Him more through seasons of loss. It’s loving Him more during days when your eyes are filled with tears, and you hear the sound of your heart breaking.
You see, Christianity is hard because choosing Jesus doesn’t promise everything’s gonna be easy from here on out — no, in fact, things will still be the same. There will still be tears, heartaches, failures, disappointments, deaths, sicknesses. Choosing Jesus doesn’t promise a pain-free life. But it does promise you comfort during pain, healing during sickness, unconditional love during heartaches, breakthroughs after disappointments, and eternal life after death. He doesn’t promise easy, because easy never needed Him.
Yes, it’s hard but it’s worth it.