Not Alone

This is mainly for my bros and sis' in Christ. But hey, if you're not a Christian, feel free come along for the ride if you want ...

Have you ever thought of your faith as an uphill battle? Like you're struggling upstream? Like you're running up the down escalator? Maybe you've thought that it felt wrong. If God loves us, why would He let us go through hard times? Why can't I just be comfortable? Jesus says; 'take up your cross and follow me.' Mark 8:34. Are crosses comfortable? Do you get on a cross and breath a sigh of relief; 'Oh this feels good, I'm so relaxed.' NO! Crosses are one of the most painful instruments of torture to date. Sometimes God's gonna call on us to crazy radical things that people will probably scoff at, maybe thats gonna be the hard thing, the laughter, the glares, the 'you're an idiot' attitude. And hey, sometimes that is really hard to deal with.

BUT ...  something I find comforting when I'm struggling is to know I'm not alone. I'm not the only one who 'has it tough.' Just think about Noah, he was told, while mid-desert, probably clear skies, to build an ark for this flood coming up. Everyone would have walked past, laughed at him, gave him plenty of 'you're an idiot' looks while he was toiling away, working for God directly. How hard would that have been, even the physical part (137m long, 23m wide, 12m high, thats REALLY big for a man and his family to build.) But he fully realised on God. The entire time, he never lets up. And he ends up being saved from destruction.

SO ... in this upstream struggle know that you're not alone, most other Christians are with you. Heck, Jesus is with you, Jesus went through very extreme circumstances for his king. And God's given us his spirit so we're never alone. Take comfort in your turmoil, this is what Jesus says will happen, and he won't abandon you throughout it.

Some more food for thought: "But God doesn't call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn't come through" - Francis Chen.



Most of these thoughts branch off Scott Petty & Francis Chen.