It’s Not Easy
It’s football season. I love it. I turned on the television and had a choice of three games to watch. In one game the team received the kickoff on the five-yard line and then promptly made three first downs. It seemed they would run away with the game. Perhaps they thought so themselves. The opposing team had a different idea. They stopped the forward drive. The opposition at the goal line became formidable. The red zone was very red.
Life is like that, especially the Christian life. Those who enter Christianity looking for an easy life are quickly disappointed. Surprisingly, there really is a spiritual adversary. In his book, Heaven and Hope, David Bolt calls it “a diabolical interference. The forces of evil are in opposition to the will of God. The nearer a man’s will approaches God’s, the more apparent, stronger, and more formidable this opposition becomes.” I hasten to add my own experience confirms this truth.
In Sunday School, we are studying the book of Acts. The Apostle Paul was once a promising rabbi determined to stop the growth of Christianity. He met Jesus and became an auspicious Chistian missionary. He traveled all over the known world, at his own expense, telling people the gospel story of Jesus. He especially wanted his Jewish relatives to know Jesus.
Despite his God-directed intentions, opposition followed Paul everywhere he went. It seems as if Paul’s kin, the Jews, had a following whose purpose was to oppose Paul and “the Way.” They appeared at every stop Paul made. Their intention was more than silencing his preaching. They wanted to kill him.
There was other opposition as well. For example, a silversmith in Ephesus made silver idols for the goddess Artemis. He stirred up a riot saying Paul would ruin their business and their city. (Acts 19:23ff) The book of Acts vividly relates the success of the gospel despite enormous opposition.
It could be God is leading you to do some good work for Him. Do not expect an easy road. Just know the strength of the opposition often confirms the correctness of the work. Then remember this, “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.” (I John 4:4)
