God's calling....easy or hard?

God's Calling

I have been struggling with God's calling and knowing whether or not it's God speaking.  It had me thinking about God and his plans for me.  This also led me to think, "well I can't do that, it would be so hard, God's plan certainly wouldn't make my life harder."  As I thought longer and marinated on that I had to laugh.  Why do I and get so caught up on the wanting only the easy and thinking God will never give me more than I can handle?  If God only gave me an easy lives and easy path, when would I ever turn to him? When I get in over my head, when life gets difficult is when I look up. Of course there are always times of praise, but it's when I am on my knees and completely humbled that I surrender.  When I fully and totally have to rely on God to get me through.  It's in those times that I have grown more in my faith than I ever have in my life and found God like never before.  Without those times I certainly would not have the faith that I have today.  The polishing and shining so God can see his image in me and his light only shines brighter for it. 

Noah building the ark would certainly not agree that God wants us to travel the easy path.  Nor would Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt.  How about Jonah going back to a horrible land of sin and pain to warn them if they didn't change their ways they would surely face the wrath of God's judgement (which is what he wanted for them). Mary carrying the baby Jesus and facing the ridicule of being pregnant outside of marriage. David facing Goliath the giant as a teenager.  None of these examples or the many, many others show of an easy way of life.  Sometimes the great things that God will call me to do are going to require hard work, sacrifice, loss and anything but an easy life. There is a bright side to all of this though.  All of these people in the Bible also had great victories when they trusted God and brought glory to him.  The first step though was listening to God's calling and trusting him. To take the first steps. Of course we could be like Jonah and take the hard road and get stuck in a fish belly first.  Thankfully God gave Jonah grace by saving his life and letting him do what he was called to in the first place.

So, when God nudges you to something that seems impossible, hard or it's going to turn your life upside down, remember that you are in good company! Pray, trust and take the next best steps!