“Come and follow Jesus. . . and everything will fall into place.” Count me in as someone who has heard, believed, and sought after that reality over the course of my life. In many respects these words are true when understood in the context of what we wait for with eager expectation. But I came to expect this to be the case in an immediate sense that would be realized in a trouble-free life.
Today, my head and my experience tell me that the life of discipleship is not easy. . . nor, was it promised to be easy. Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33). Still, I sometimes find myself living functionally with the expectation that the “victorious Christian life” should be one free of pain, heartache, and difficulty.
Our kids are growing up in a world where the cultural narrative pushes the expectation and pursuit of pleasure and the total avoidance of pain and difficulty. But what’s realistic is what Jesus said in John 16:33.
Source: CPYU
