We Must STOP Saying “It’s hard!”
I just about want to scream every time someone says (or writes) “It’s hard!”–that’s so totally contrary to the Word of God and like announcing to all who hear us that we’re NOT walking in the grace, strength and power of Jesus Christ; thus revealing the sin and lack of faith in our lives as Christians. In fact, the King James Bible ACTUALLY tells us in Proverbs 13:15 that Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors (unfaithful in NIV and “treacherous” in NASB) is hard. And then in Matthew 11:30, Jesus said For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. And then Proverbs 3:5-6 very clearly declares Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.. So thinking and saying that anything is “hard” obviously means (and forecasts to everyone else, no matter how much we say otherwise) that we are NOT trusting the Lord with ALL of our hearts; that we ARE most definitely leaning to our own understanding; and that we’re NOT acknowledging God in ALL of our ways! And those words LITERALLY become like a self fulfilling prophecy of doom and disappointment; because when we DO that, God would be a liar and fail to uphold and fulfill His Word if He made our paths straight when we mumble and grumble instead of giving Him praise, honor and glory as we rely completely on the power and promise of His unfailing Word and trust Him with all of our hearts and acknowledge Him in all of our ways.
So every time we talk about how “hard” things are, we’re in fact calling Jesus a liar or admitting that we’re acting in unbelief and sin, because it’s REALLY NOT hard when we walk in the spirit and NOT in the flesh (John 6:63 and Philippians 3:3)! After all, Jesus told us that apart from Him we could do NOTHING, but that when we REMAIN in Him we can bear much fruit (John 15:5 and Galatians 5:22-23). And then in John 15:7, Jesus even said If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. And Jesus’ words certainly aren’t remaining in us when our words speak something so contrary to what His Word promises! And His Word promises that we can do ALL things through Christ Jesus who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13); that HIS grace is sufficient for us, and that HIS POWER is made PERFECT in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9)!
So If we expect to experience the power and promise of God’s Word in the full and complete restoration of our marriages and families, we had best start DOING as instructed in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-20, which says:
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. In fact, it’s a good idea to read all of 1 Thessalonians 5, because there’s SO much there; particularly verse 24, which says The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.!
So let’s stop striving in our flesh; our own limited ability, our own flawed and incomplete understanding and our own puny and pathetic strength and put all of our faith and confidence in the Lord and His EVERY promise. We have seen time and time again in the powerful testimonies of others that we most definitely CAN rely on his unfailing faithfulness and ability to bring every Word and promise to pass in our lives…WHEN WE ARE OBEDIENT AND BELIEVE THAT HE WILL DO EXACTLY WHAT HE HAS SAID HE WILL DO! And one of the best ways to accomplish that is to start giving thanks and praising Him for all that we DO have; instead of crying and grieving for the one thing we DON’T have…YET!!!
I really appreciated the way Glenn Jackson expressed the same concern in THE MINISTRY LETTER 2008 ISSUE 8, which he “just happened” (not hardly!) to publish just as I was pondering the very same topic. You can read his newsletter in its entirety at the above link, but here’s what he wrote about the danger of thinking that things are hard:
“IF ONE DOES NOT LIVE ABOVE THIS PRESENT WORLD SYSTEM THROUGH FAITH IN – AND OBEDIENCE TO – THE WORD (WILL) OF GOD THEN THEY WILL BE CONSUMED BY IT!
It is very important for EVERY child of God to break any ties of heart-fellowship with the “world” in this hour. We must be a people who live far above [spiritually
speaking] the deep darkness of this present world system – for it is certain that if one does not live above it through faith in – and obedience to – the Word of God then they will SURELY be consumed by it! There is no other position. It is an amazing thing that we, as Christians, can sometimes enter into a place wherein we act as though faith and love and obedience are the “hard” way. This, of course, is a lie and deception of the Devil because the actual truth according to the Word is that the way of the “transgressor” is hard – not the way of faith, and the way of life in the Kingdom. In reality, the life of faith and love and obedience is a life of learning to experience the unlimited capacity of God.”
So it is my deepest heart’s desire and prayer that every man and woman standing for the restoration of their marriage and family will indeed come to recognize and experience that the life of faith and love and obedience as one that PROCLAIMS (AND THUS EXPERIENCES) the unlimited capacity of God! When we truly understand that NOTHING is hard or impossible with God (Jeremiah 32:27 and Luke 1:37); when we rest in, trust, acknowledge and obey His Word, we will indeed be blessed and encouraged beyond belief!!!
Amen! What you are saying is so true. If we do not begin to understand the power we have through Jesus and the Word of God NOW, the restoration of our marriages will be in vain. We have to accept the “new” way that God is showing us. The reason our marriages are in tatters is because we failed to understand that God’s promises are certain and that He cannot lie. We let the enemy rob, steal and destroy our marriages and lives by not being obedient to God’s Word and not using the Word as the awesome weapon that it is. God’s been showing me that we cannot serve Him, and acknowledge His awesome supernatural power if we still have one foot in the world. God works in the supernatural realm in us through His Word. And the way of the world is in the “limited” natural realm. I prefer to entrust my life into a supernatural Saviour’s hands.