“Being a Christian is easy”

At church today, I heard one of the most beautiful sermons and it has impressed so much that I wanted to do a blog on it. Nothing in particular was beautiful about but it was just explained in a way that I had never imagined.

In the season of exams and academic ventures, people, myself too, have the tendency to abandon God and have a fixed mindset that not only is serving God hard but it’s even harder in this period. However, one of my mentors said something to today that struck me:

“Serving God is the easiest thing”

At first I was like, ermmm sis? But as she began to explain why I began to understand. Serving God is easy because He literally, through the Word and His beautiful voice, tells you what to do. Granted, regardless of who we are we go through trials and tribulations, but what sets us apart from the world is that life is not down to luck or a non-existing or unchangeable entity, in which life can be unfair to those who don’t deserve it.

To emphasise this further, my youth pastor used the analogy of an A-Z map and a sat-nav - this is not what he directly said but how I want to use it. So: An A-Z map shows us directions to a destination but it is very confusing- this is not so with God- God is a sat-nav who guides you each step of the way. The sat-nav even tells you how many yards to move left and even if you refuse to listen to the sat-nav telling you to go left, it will redirect your route and show you how to get to your destination despite your wrong decision.

In the same vein, a sat-nav is not like a mystery novel that will tell you the beginning and the end of your journey and make you guess the rest, like God won't. Moreover, (and I will scream this to the end of time), God is not a “if it is His will for me, it will happen, if it’s not then it’s okay” God. As much as God is mysterious, God is not a mystery. I usually talk about this concerning suffering but I want to use it to accentuate my point about the ‘easiness’ of Christianity. Because of the Word, as someone once referred to as "the book that is about everything and has everything", and God’s guidance, life is not a guessing game. Yes, things may happen contrary to our desires but that does not change who God is.....

Take the law of gravity, regardless of how skinny, fat, tall, black, white, Indian, healthy you are, the law will always stand, right? That is the same with God, no matter how much we neglect Him or do not fulfil His word, the laws of success, long life, prosperity, abundance, etc, in place for us will stand- now and until the end of time, we just need to align with God so that these blessings that are bound in heaven can manifest in the physical.

Finally, I wanted to talk about balancing life and God (and when I say this, I am talking to myself too). To be very, very, very, very, very, very real, as much you and I would like to say no, it is not hard. Think about it, I am very guilty of doing leisure things instead of revising with ‘ease’ and not revise, but when it comes to God all of a sudden I remember that I need to read something. I think the reason I do it is because:

1. I lack faith: I get so worried that I need to spend every second of the day revising so I can get good grades that when I am not and spending time with God instead, I either feel like I am wasting my time or compromising my success

2. I lack patience and vision: God is not a good who works according to our time or is One that gives us what we want instant- He is not a fast food delivery service. Contributed by the lack of faith, I don’t want to wait on God and in my head it’s like “imagine if I did, and when it comes to my A-levels I flop? Indeed, what 'waste of time'”

However, what we need to understand is that every second sown in God is never a second wasted. Serving God is 'easy' but not until we take the crazy leap of faith and that is the issue, that is when it becomes hard. It does not make sense to believe God for some things but for not others, that is not God you are serving but rather you are being enslaved by your insecurities and carnality. If you really believe God is all-powerful, all-knowing and all-loving and you are serving Him to the best of your abilities you will be able to do it, and if you find that you can't bring yourself to spend time with Him, do you really know him? Ask yourself that and see a change begin to manifest.

Wooooow, God really works in mysterious ways because I did not think any of this until I started writing half-way through, God really reveals in mysterious ways. I think this blog was for me as much as it is for you.

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- “The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your country and your people. Leave your father's family. Go to the land I will show you”, Genesis 12:1-4

- “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble”, Psalm 46:1

- “He says, “Be still, and know that I am God”, Psalm 46:10

- “Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight”, Proverbs 3:5-6