Being a true Christian is difficult.
I’m not trying to whine or play the victim card. I am merely stating how difficult it is to maintain faith when the life I currently have is not smooth sailing.
But that was the true point of faith, isn’t it? If God granted everyone who believes in His Son a easy, wonderful life, then there would be no faith in Him. There would simply be gratitude and coerced worship. In other words, we would worship God in exchange for an easy, wealthy life. If that were the case, everyone would be a Christian right now.
I could argue that this life is merely a test for the greater life to come. But in truth, this life is a shadow of what it should have been and what God has done with his Son is offer a better one after it. This life was supposed to be better, but our ancestors were tricked into abdicating our rightful place in this world over to God’s enemy.
Keep in mind that if you read the entire book of Job, you’ll note that God never refers to his suffering as test, only Satan does, and He never explains Himself to Job. In truth, Job suffered because Satan was envious of what Job had and sought to destroy him.
Modern Churchianity refuses to acknowledge the existence of an external evil force that seeks to harm us. At best it is a demonic spirit who attacks our souls, but is not responsible for what insurance companies commonly refer to as “acts of God.”
I am no Job and I hope to never suffer as he did. But I have suffered loss in my own life. The week that my grandfather finally succumbed to colon cancer, my wife suffered her first miscarriage. I was going to go to the funeral and talk about the life that would replace my lost grandfather. I would hopefully provide a ray of hope in what was otherwise a sad undertaking. Instead my wife suffered the loss of a child on top of burying my grandfather.
She had four miscarriages after that. It was not an easy undertaking. Finally, I told my wife that we would just stop trying for a time and retool our marriage and our lives. Both of us were tired of going to doctors and hospitals and having her probed, prodded, and told that nothing was wrong with my wife, except for the blood gushing out of her vagina.
In all of this, I did not blame God. I was angry, I was depressed. I begged him to spare us the pain and save our children. What many Churchians don’t realize is that God will say no or simply ignore you. This is because He is His own person, so to speak. He is not a force that can be invoked at your pleasure (and thank God He is not).
Besides suffering, simply living a mediocre life can be taxing on faith. When you are in the mission field or doing God’s work in some other way, it is easy to have faith. But getting up every morning, going to work, and coming home is not exactly an exciting prospect. We forget that the best thing for a man is to eat, drink, and find enjoyment in his work. Notice that the last part was not to change careers or jobs until you find a place you are happy with. It merely tasks us to find enjoyment with where we are at.
I knew a man who has passed from this life who was a devote Christian. He was also diagnosed with bi-polar disorder, multiple sclerosis, and Crohn’s disease. These three illnesses caused him to be a subject of scientific studies. Every day, especially at the end of this life, was a struggle to wake up, let alone reaffirm his faith in God. But he managed to do it.
There is no reward in this life for your faith. Never forget that. No matter what happens, always keep in mind that this is the result of what is essentially a stolen life, a conquered life. To be a Christian means that you have faith in what is to come after this life. You hope for a better life after this one and you praise God for bringing about the opportunity to have access to it.