We all\nlike the easy button. We all want 2021 to be easier, better, and more normal\nthan 2020. Last year brought a lot of challenges, changes, interruptions, and\ninconveniences (masks, long lines, higher prices, shortages of food, money, and\nother products). There was a lot of social, political, and financial upheaval. It\nchallenged our comfort zones, stretched our faith, and made us pray and depend\non God more than ever. Face it, we don\u2019t like change. Truly, the only people\nwho like change are wet babies!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In\nAugust of 2005, Staples introduced the \u201ceasy button\u201d\u2014a novelty item for offices\nas a fun way to relieve stress. When you pushed the button it said, \u201cThat was\neasy!\u201d It served as a symbol of the frustrations and challenges of small\nbusiness. It was a clever ad campaign as they tried to make things easier for\ntheir customers. We all like quick fixes and shortcuts. We all want to wave a\nmagic wand and \u201cpoof\u201d make everything better faster. But life doesn\u2019t work that\nway. Real life is hard sometimes and we must plod and plow through it. Some\nthings we don\u2019t enjoy but we must simply endure. The Bible doesn\u2019t say life or faith\nis easy. Jesus never promised trouble-free living. In fact, He predicted the\nopposite\u2014\u201cIn the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I\nhave overcome the world\u201d<\/em> (Jn. 16:33, NKJV). The Psalmist provided this\nreality check and promise, \u201cMany are the afflictions of the righteous, but\nthe Lord delivers him out of them all\u201d<\/em> (Ps. 34:19). <\/p>\n\n\n\n So,\nwhy is life such a struggle? Because there is a constant tug-of-war between\ngood and evil, God and Satan, truth and error, darkness and light, the spirit\nand the flesh. These forces keep clashing in a series of struggles. God gives\nus grace to face our struggles and makes us stronger by them. Someone said,\n\u201cWhere there is no struggle there is no strength.\u201d The struggle we are in today\nis developing the strength we need for tomorrow. Plainly put, if God removed\nall our struggles, we wouldn\u2019t grow!<\/p>\n\n\n\n To struggle means \u201cto contend with an adversary, opposing force, task, or problem.\u201d Remember the old saying, \u201cWhat doesn\u2019t kill you makes you stronger\u201d? Well, then we should be super strong by now, right? Strength is built through resistance. Athletes who use weights for training in their sport build muscle and strength by resisting (pushing against) the weights. The same is true for us spiritually. James 4:7 instructs us to \u201cSubmit to God. Resist the devil<\/strong> and he will flee from you.\u201d<\/em> The more we resist Satan, sin, and self, the stronger we become. Consider the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 As a butterfly struggles to break out of\na cocoon, its wings develop so it can fly. You\nsee, we can\u2019t have a testimony without a test! We can\u2019t have victory without a battle!\nWe can\u2019t be overcomers if there\u2019s nothing to overcome. Remember, every miracle\nin the Bible first started as a problem. Impossibilities with men are\nopportunities to God. The Christian life is a struggle because we are going against\ngrain of what is popular in our corrupt culture. Any dead fish can float\ndownstream, but it takes someone with guts and grit to go against the current.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus empowered\nHis disciples to endure the struggleas He sent them out as lambs among\nwolves (Mt. 10:1). He warned them that the road would not be easy. He prepared\nthem (and us) to face the struggle of rejection (Mt. 10:12-15), religious and political\npersecution (vs. 16-20), betrayal by family (v. 21), and demonic hatred (v. 22).\nThen He emphasized, \u201cBut he who endures to the end<\/strong> will be saved.\u201d<\/em>\nPaul echoed that sentiment when he wrote, \u201cYou therefore must endure\nhardship<\/strong> as a good soldier of Jesus Christ\u201d<\/em> (2 Tim. 2:3). The Christian life is more like living on a battleship than\na luxury cruise liner. Soft saints won\u2019t survive severe spiritual warfare. We\nmust be tough enough to endure temptation (Jam. 1:12) and to \u201cRun with\nendurance the race that is set before us\u201d<\/em> (Heb. 12:1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Christian race is not a short sprint; it\u2019s a\nlong-distance marathon. It\u2019s not about who starts the fastest; it\u2019s about who\nfinishes the race. We should strive to finish strong like the Apostle Paul who\nwrote, \u201cI have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept\nthe faith\u201d<\/em> (2 Tim. 4:7). In Aesop\u2019s famous fable, the hare sped ahead to gain\na big lead, but then he got lazy and took a nap. Meanwhile, the tortoise\ncreeped along (steady Eddie) and passed him. The hare woke up just in time to\nsee the tortoise cross the finish line. Slow and steady wins the race. It may\nnot seem like you\u2019re making much spiritual progress but keep striving, soldier,\nyou\u2019re getting stronger every day!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We all like the easy button. We all want 2021 to be easier, better, and more normal than 2020. Last year brought a lot of challenges, changes, interruptions, and inconveniences (masks, long lines, higher prices, shortages of food, money, and other products). There was a lot of social, political, and financial upheaval. It challenged our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=326"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":327,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326\/revisions\/327"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u2022 As a baby squeezes through the birth\ncanal, amniotic fluid is forced out of its lungs so it can breathe.
\n\u2022 As a toddler strains to crawl, pull up,\nand roll over, it builds muscles to later walk and run.
\n\u2022 As a student studies for assignments and\ntests, he or she learns and finds the tassel is worth the hassle on graduation\nday.
\n\u2022 As a bird or reptile breaks out of an\negg, it gets stronger to face bigger challenges ahead.
\n\u2022 As an eagle fights against opposing air\ncurrents, it learns to soar higher.
\n\u2022 As a salmon swims against rapids and even\njumps waterfalls, it elevates itself to higher spawning pools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n