You have been redeemed by Jesus to live a God discovering, God serving, God-ordained life.
But that doesn’t mean it is easy.
There will be storms that you must go through.
There will be higher altitudes to climb to.
There will be unexpected turbulence along the way.
I dislike turbulence. I have boarded the plane and taken off, I am heading to the right destination and suddenly everything begins to shake. It’s always unexpected, it always makes me feel afraid and I always have to talk my heart rate down as the plane passes through it and returns to normal.
Getting on board with Jesus’s plan for your life is an amazing journey and is totally worth it. But He doesn’t promise that your non-stop flight to heaven will be free of trial and turbulence.
You will experience something that will disrupt you, shakes you up and scares you. You may even begin to wonder if you will get to your destination.
You may think that freedom in Christ means that there will be no suffering. It doesn’t work that way. Jesus paid for your freedom by suffering, not so you would never suffer, but so you may use the suffering season to experience more of His grace and power. He doesn’t cause the disruptions but He will use it. Jesus will use the disruptions to draw you closer to Him.
“And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”Romans 5:2-4 NIV
Jesus knows where you are on the journey and what is disrupting it. He will be with you through it all, give you what you need to deal with it and through His power develop a deep well of hope that you can use for the rest of your life.
