No Easy Journey

Read: 2 Thessalonians 3
“Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all!” 2 Thessalonians 3:16

Examine:
Paul knew that there was no way he could pray for us to have an easy journey. There is absolutely no way possible to follow Christ and not experience adversity, loss, and pain. It just simply can’t happen. While he could not pray for a journey full of easy circumstances he knew that he could pray for the perfect peace of God to make the circumstances irrelevant.

Apply:
As I continue to examine my prayer life I stand amazed at how many of my prayers focus their attention on improving circumstances. I also see that when I pray for others I am feel pressed to pray a prayer that will lead them to a better place in life. There is a lot I can learn from Paul. To be a Christian is to engage in the mission of Jesus. It is a call to set aside every encumbrance and dedicate my life to serving God’s kingdom. Encumbrances come in many forms but one of the main ones I see today is my desire to live easy.


Pray:
I do not want sleepless nights. I do not want long days of toil. I do not want to scrape by and depend on You for my daily food. I do not want to make people angry by offending them with the truth and I for sure do not appreciate someone trying to confront me with the truth when my life is not as it should be. I do not like discipline, I resist rebuke, and I steer clear of correcting others. According to Your Word that makes me a fool.

I hear what You are saying to me today. I honestly do. I also recognize that I may not be mature enough to fully accept it. It is hard to let go of the dream that praying to You can become a magical experience in which all that is wrong in my life is set straight. It is hard to agree to praying Your will be done and really mean it. My deepest desire in prayers is to see hard things become easy; but I hear You saying that my consuming passion in prayer should be to see unholy things become holy.

My thirst for righteousness does not yet exceed my desire for comfort, but the transformation is taking place. I do not resist You in any way this morning. I submit to continuing this journey and I am grateful that Your grace understands my immaturity. I ask for the strength, faith, wisdom and knowledge I need today to truly desire Your will and Your kingdom above my own.