If It’s Easy, You’re Doing It Wrong

As I look through scripture, following God was never easy.

There were always obstacles.
There was always opposition.

It seems that following Jesus often comes too easy for many of us.

Little sacrifice.
Little push back.
Little trust required.

The conclusion I’ve come to…
We’re doing it wrong.

  • Jesus said in John 16:33 that we would have trouble.
  • We’re told in Mark 8:35 that we must always take up our cross.
  • In Acts 9, Paul immediately faced persecution for his decision to submit to Christ.
  • Moses listened to complainers.
  • Stephen was killed.

It’s always tough to follow Jesus…If we’re doing it right.

Jesus wants our complete surrender, our everything.
That often means that He calls us out of our comfort zone into complete reliance on Him.

This goes against all that we’re taught,
all that we’re conditioned to be,
all that our sinful nature directs us to.

But if we want to follow Christ in complete surrender,
we learn to submit,
we learn to take up our cross and follow Him.

Maybe following Christ hasn’t gotten any easier since the days of Paul, Peter, and Stephen,
maybe…

We’ve quit following.


Comments

20 responses to “If It’s Easy, You’re Doing It Wrong”

  1. Thanks for sharing brother – too many times I find myself doing it wrong. It only beats me down – I need to learn and change from those beat downs and He is the only one who can help out.

    1. We all do man. I’m still working too. Thanks again for all your hard work!

  2. Love the redesign man.

    1. After all that, all you can do is compliment Matt’s work?? haha… Just kidding. Thanks. He did a great job!

      1. lol. The post was great. It hasn’t gotten easier to follow and it won’t, but that’s because their is a constant battle for our souls.

        it was an excellent post man.

        1. haha… just messin with you. Thanks man.

  3. […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Loren Pinilis, Jonathan Pearson. Jonathan Pearson said: If it's easy, you're doing it WRONG! http://su.pr/4gCvy9 […]

  4. Yeah, not so easy at all. And the closer I get to Jesus, the more I understand just how hard it is. I sort of know intuitively that as soon as I really do lay everything at his feet, I’ll have peace about it, and yet I stubbornly resist, because I don’t want to do things his way, I want to do them my way with his approval. It doesn’t work that way.

  5. Elena Haupricht Avatar
    Elena Haupricht

    I think people have this idea that following God is the path to the easy way through life..not always. Jesus told us..If they did it to me, they will do it to you…But, He also overcame the world..And He is there for us through every trial..Often times when I encounter the storm, I forget He is on the boat. He did promise He would go through everything with us..That is a great promise!

    1. Wow. Absolutely!

  6. Nice redesign. And your message here is on the mark.

  7. Great post man!
    When I first began following Him and learning more about Him, I thought I knew it all and faith seemed easy. It was nothing to follow Him, hardly any sacrifice and everything seemed great. But the longer I follow Christ, the harder it gets – and the more questions I have. Love my enemies? Lay down my life? Trust that He is in control even when life doesn’t go the way I thought it would? Yea…not so easy. But I’m learning it’s worth it.

    1. Not easy at all. The more I follow, the more I realize how really messed up I am. Overwhelming at time because I WANT to be all He wants me to be. Thanks man. Stay faithful dude!

  8. Cindy Schuerr Avatar
    Cindy Schuerr

    Great post, Jonathan! When things begin to seem easy for me, I know that He is getting ready to teach me another life lesson. I welcome the struggle.

    The changes that were made to your site are awesome. Michael does great work!:-)

    1. Thanks! He definitely does!

  9. […] You have an easy time following Jesus. (Mark […]

  10. I think if I were honest with myself, I want to be known as a follower of Jesus and not have to face the hardships. Nevertheless, there is no question that I have grown the most from storms!

    Thanks for the challenge!

    Noah

  11. […] follow Christ, to follow Mom and Dad, to follow our husband, to follow our teacher, to follow our mentor, to […]

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