Why You Shouldn't Wish That Difficulty Away Too Quickly

“It's such a God thing!” I exclaimed. I was marveling over God arranging circumstances in such a way that the front-row parking spot opened up right as we were driving through a packed parking lot.

To be honest, I've cringed at times as I remember that moment. Encountering people who could use a front-row spot more than me has since informed my thinking. I also suppose I shouldn’t dismiss that God’s loving gifts to us sometimes include the blessing of an open spot as we’re looking for one, easing our walk - or someone else's.

But I'm struck by the contrast: this is Colorado.

We like challenges. Think about it: to live in Colorado is to shun the flat for inclines in the form of mountains. But not just mountains. Snowy mountains. We walk, jog, bicycle, drive, snowshoe, ski, and everything else up these snow-covered inclines. Just to add a little difficulty, it all happens in thinner air than lower elevations.

You see, in Colorado, we like to engage in hard things. Like cheering for the Broncos.

Well, that's mostly true. We like to engage in hard things, except for faith. When it comes to faith, I like easy. I suspect you do too. Too often I realize I just want smooth. “Jesus, just show yourself in the middle of what’s in front of me.” We don’t really enjoy the journey when faith is difficult.

The difficult things can still be God things

And God has a solution for that. While He doesn’t necessarily acquiesce and make things easier, He does answer us. Rather than ease our challenges for us, He grows the range of circumstances in which we see and encounter Him.

The day Jesus rose from the dead, Luke tells us that two of Jesus’ disciples are walking with one another down a long, flat road to a nearby town. Having dismissed a report that Jesus was actually alive, they’re discussing all that had happened with Jesus. And then there’s this remarkable sentence:

Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him.

Having the benefit of being the reader and knowing this is Jesus next to them, imagine being able to drop in on their conversation. What would you say? Would it not be, “I know you don’t see it now, but look for clues; the risen Jesus is with you!”

Just to name a few

Too often we think we need to free ourselves of life's obstacles in order to be in God’s presence.

This one verse is the reminder that He doesn’t have to clear the difficult things. He can be and is fully God in the midst of them. He's near, even when he seems far. Would that change how you look at whatever's in front of you right now?

Consider the obstacles these two faced:

• Skepticism – The women who shared the news of Jesus’ empty tomb had a strike against them in those times: they were women. That alone was enough to discredit them in the eyes of many. How often do we look at those around us and explain away their joy because of differences? Someone else's differences don’t discredit what God is doing.

• Sorrow – Luke tells us just a couple verses later of the despair and loss of hope in the disciples. There’s a very human tendency to think that if we don’t feel it, it must not be. Removal of despair isn’t a requirement for Jesus to be present. If anything, his presence in the midst of it ought to be greater comfort.

• Doubt – We sure trust our own reasoning, don’t we? To these disciples, the women’s news of Jesus’ resurrection “seemed like nonsense and idle talk” (Luke 24:11). Want to do yourself and those around you a favor? Ask them to tell you one thing you do that is nonsense to them. And then forgive them. God’s work isn’t somehow lessened or made greater because I can make sense of it.

• Familiarity – These disciples had heard Jesus' teachings and seen his miracles, so it would be natural to look for him to do the same things in the same ways. But remember how wrong various peoples’ assumptions had been? To some, he was nothing more than the carpenter’s son. To one Mary he looked like a gardener. To Nathanael he was from Nazareth...nothing good could come from there. To the disciples, he was a ghost on the water. So many to list. Just because Jesus doesn’t show up in the way we think he should – or are used to – doesn’t mean he’s absent.

These are the kinds of things we pray for like we pray for open parking spots. Sometimes God clears them, opens them up, and deals with them.

And sometimes He doesn't.

Maybe the greater and more lasting display of His love, character, and power is that He allows challenges to remain, and shows His power over them in such a way that the obstacles take their proper place in our increased awareness of His presence. Perhaps a better prayer isn't an opened parking spot, but opened eyes.

It happened on that day in the lives of two disciples, and it can happen on this day in our lives.

It’s such a God thing.

Until next time,

Nathan