It’s possible, but not easy!, by Dane Tyner

It is easier to go downhill than uphill; easier to go with the flow than against the flow; easier to talk than walk; easier to have opinions than convictions. And it is easier to have dreams than realize them. No news here.

The Creator calls us to hard stuff. Perhaps this is news.

Consider two examples:

1. God wants you and me to read and/or hear His word. As difficult as it may be to consistently devote yourself to that discipline, it’s still the easy part. He wants us to do that word (Jas 1:22). Wow, that is hard!

2. God has a plan for your life and mine. It’s a good plan, designed to bless us, Him, and others (Jer 29:11). Believing in such a blessed plan is fairly easy. Seeing that plan being fulfilled in my life, however, has been anything but easy. Instead of finding God’s plan “just down the hill”, we often find it “over the hill.” In my case, it has been over the hills - plural! Furthermore, many of these “hills” deserve the more definitive term “mountain.” I have had to traverse educational hills, monetary hills, hills of discouraging words and set-backs, hills of fear and hopelessness, hills of being misunderstood and maligned, hills of betrayal, hills of unanswered, perplexing questions, and the like.

I remember well a time in my college days when it seemed pointless to continue. I could not see any way before me to attain my goal. That goal was somewhere on the other side of Mount Overwhelming. It seemed reasonable to quit. Why waste any more time or energy in a fruitless pursuit? Being a generally reasonable person, I decided to quit.

Thankfully, on the day I intended to withdraw from school, a dear Christian man stood in my way and strongly encouraged me not to quit. Furthermore, he encouraged me to solicit prayer from two other men that day. I did. The result: I chose to continue my course as long as God made a way – one day at a time. For the rest of that semester and the next three, I moved daily in the direction of my goal without knowing I would ultimately reach it. But I did! I even earned another degree thereafter.

Scripture assures us that “all things are possible with God.” Three of the four Gospel writers quote Jesus making that declaration on more than one occasion. It’s an important truth to hold near your heart because life is known for presenting seemingly impossible circumstances. If we’re serious about following Jesus, we should prepare to meet some of these. And we should meet them, not with shock and bewilderment, but with an abiding determination to depend on God’s direction and resources.

If you want to grow up as a Christian, really become more like Jesus through your years, expect obstacles; they are par for this course. This goal will require you to be led of the Spirit into uncomfortable territory. That’s the nature of growth.

If you want to build a godly home and raise godly offspring, plan on opposition – heavy opposition. The world isn’t paving a super-highway to our destination. Trust our Waymaker. His Way may be narrow, but it is always best. You can find it, if you’re not expecting Broadway Boulevard.
Beloved, we can’t get where God is leading by taking the path of least resistance. We must follow His path. Remember, it’s a possible path, not an easy path.

Now consider this: Maybe life is difficult right now because you’re going the right way. If so, don’t turn back; press on.