Teaching

Jesus said that the road that leads to life is full of trouble. Did you know that?

But the narrow gate and the road that lead to life are full of trouble. Only a few people find the narrow gate.  Matt. 7:14 (GWORD)

The word used for 'trouble' here traditionally is translated “narrow”. A deeper study tells us that there are more meanings to it: “to crowd (literally or figuratively): — afflict, narrow, throng, suffer tribulation, trouble.”

Whichever way you look into it, the full meaning of the word doesn't convey a very pleasant picture.

• The road that leads to life will be crowded. All kinds of people, relationships and circumstances will try to crowd out the right people you are supposed to share the journey with. Some of those who 'crowd' your forward movement may be in fact people with very pressing needs. You know, the kind of people who never bother to actually seek God on their own or do something for themselves to better their lives. Why should they bother, when they know there’s plenty of mercy motivated “fools” in the Church who will take care of them one way or another.

• The road that leads to life will be full of affliction. You will be betrayed, disappointed and even targeted by people you thought were fellow Christians. Tragedies, financial losses, illnesses and all sorts of other situations do actually happen to well meaning Christians. Why? It’s because we live in a fallen world. And even if we do all the right things and even if God is warring on our behalf, the simple truth is that He never promised earth is or will become Heaven and that he is in full control of what happens down here. I don’t mean to scare anyone, but it’s better to take the bitter pill of realization now than not be prepared in the day when affliction knocks at your door. And if it doesn’t -- well, praise the Lord, you have many wonderful reasons to sing and shout -- you are in the blessed minority! Most people experience various forms of affliction throughout their lifetime. And this, my friends is not indicative of whether God loves us or whether He has all the power. He does. Look at creation and you’ll know it. Look at the cross of Jesus and you’ll know it. But the fact remains this is a battle ground and we must be prepared for it.

• The road that leads to life will be narrow. I remember living life circumstances leading us to live in a two bedroom apartment in Bulgaria with two babies, laughable income and intense persecution from the authorities, the culture and the church. Yes, living in the 90’s in Bulgaria was not for the faint of heart. Nothing was easy to accomplish. Even the most simple things took so much effort and resources. And what’s worse is that it lasted for years, not days or months. In retrospect, if that’s the worse we will experience ever in life, I’m OK with it. I’m thankful reminded of so many other believers who live in much worse conditions around the world. I’ve been there. I know.

• The road that leads to life is full of trouble. Troubles come in two ways -- internal and external. Internal troubles are those that concern our families and us personally. Most of these are self-inflicted and the result of our carnal nature. External troubles are the ones the system of this world causes us -- troubles for us personally, for our churches, businesses and societies in general through corrupt government, unjust courts, crime and all kinds of scenarios who are outside of our control.

So what is our most natural inclination when we encounter these troubles on our journey with Jesus, down (or up) the road that leads to life?

We try to shift lanes.

Most of us are not raised up with enough mental and spiritual discipline to know how to plough through the troubles that come at us. We interpret these troubles, afflictions and tribulations as denial coming from God. We feel inadequate for the task. We try to shift lanes.

To our surprise, we find there are indeed different lanes on the road that leads to life.

There are all the casual Christians, who may show up to church on Sunday but outside of this are totally submerged in their own lives. You watch and you think: may be something’s wrong with me, praying and working for revival, reformation and all that good stuff? May be it doesn’t take all that? Hmm.

In the lane next to them are all religious nuts who don’t mind living completely in a world of their own, denying everything and everyone and isolating themselves in a bubble of prayer, reading of Scriptures and painful expectation of the end of times. Oh, well...

Apparently, there are several other lanes, which I can’t get into describing here. They may be broadly described as:

• the lane of the hurt & wounded,
• the lane of the flashy and successful,
• the lane of the mediocre,
• the lane of the cynical and the skeptical 

and on and on. Look around, see for yourself. Your landscape probably looks different from mine. But inevitably everywhere you go, you realize that it’s not easy to be a “kingdom first” kind of Christian. Someone who tends to themselves and their family, but more than anything else has centered his or her life in the pursuit of first of all seeking and establishing God’s will on the earth.

Don’t shift lanes, stick to what your inner man is telling you. The safest place on planet Earth is to be in the middle of God’s will...or lane, if you will.