“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
This past fall my wife and I were on a road trip, and as usual, we found a local Christian radio station to listen to as we motored down the highway. We’ve found some hidden gems from time to time as we’ve done that, finding enjoyment and inspiration in song and word via smaller, independently owned radio networks. Unfortunately, that day was not one of those days.
It didn’t take long to realize that the radio station’s theme of the day must have been “Woe is me, this life is hard and dreary, I hope I can hang on until Heaven!” Talk about rain on a campfire! If we would have listened to that for very long, we would have been tempted to get just as depressed as the people on the other side of the speakers. So, dial turned, and we moved on to brighter thoughts, at least for a while.
A few days later, I began to think about the influences and experiences that had to be behind the lyrics of those downtrodden songs. Those songs were written for a reason; they were played over the airwaves because there was an audience. I recognized some of those songs; they are popular. Why? Because many Christians are living with the mindset that they convey.
“Well brother, those songs were just relaying reality. This life is hard. It’s never going to get better until we get to Heaven.” So says the heart of someone who has given up their faith to see the goodness of God in the land of the living. The wonders of Heaven notwithstanding, this is such an ungodly perspective for believers, yet it is commonplace in our area. Sure, Heaven is going to be far, far superior to the best this life has to offer, but with Jesus and through our faith in His provision, this life can and should be life more abundantly. At least that’s what Jesus taught.
A lot of Christians are under the impression that a Godly life is a hard life–the life of trial and tribulation. Sure, there will be some trials in this life, and there will be some tough stuff for us all to overcome, but the vast majority of this life’s perceived “hardships” are only a smoke screen, not a fire.
Life with Jesus, life tapped into his amazing grace, is designed to be relatively easy. God’s grace, His ability enabling us to do what we can’t do on our own, is given to help us overcome any of life’s hardness. Have you ever read II Corinthians 12? There, we read how Paul faced demonic opposition on a scale that none of us will. He was perplexed by it for a while and asked the Lord for deliverance. God’s solution for Paul’s hardship? His grace!
Now, Paul understood some things about God’s grace. He had told the Corinthians about its importance earlier (I Corinthians 15). Evidently, he needed a reminder of just how powerful that grace can be. Or maybe he didn’t realize at that time how applicable it was to every tough situation we face in life. Either way after that third discussion with the Lord, Paul realized that God’s grace was all he needed to overcome any obstacle in his way.
Brothers and sisters, I know life can present us with tough situations. I’ve faced a few and so have you. With that said, let’s not let the temporary toughness of life rob us of our faith in God’s ability to show us His goodness in this life. He has given us grace to overcome every hardship, and His grace, if applied, is always more than enough. We must purpose to tap into that grace and travel through the valleys of life to reach the goodness on the other side of our trials.
Greg Crum is the pastor of Calvary Temple in Lovely.