Hardship as Direction?

For the last couple of months, everything that could go wrong, has. We've been trying to get back to the Balkans and have had problem after problem getting there. It has caused me to think even more deeply about how God speaks to us. Some have said that the hardships we are experiencing must be a sign that God doesn't want us to go back. I certainly understand this perspective (and we have even asked ourselves this question) but I’m not sure that is the case, even though this thwarting has seemed almost intentional.

As I've thought about it I've realized that if trials and tribulations were God's way of communicating to us that we shouldn't do something, then what would be the implications if we applied this approach to some of the well known people in the Scriptures. If we assumed that great difficulty was a sign to turn back, then perhaps the Apostle Paul shouldn't have been a missionary, Moses shouldn't have left Egypt, the prophets should have kept quiet and Jesus should never have come. Almost every major figure in the Bible lived a life of great difficulty and almost constant problems, yet they were doing what God had asked them to do.

Recently Jo and I read the book "Your God is Too Safe". In it the author spoke of how God has been reduced in our western Christianity to some good luck charm that helps us find parking spots at the mall and blesses our team at the baseball game. We have created our own god of the comfort zone to help us get what we want or to make our lives easier. I believe that this is not God, but rather a false god of our own imagination. We've tried to tame the real God who is dangerous and wild, but good to the core. God is unpredictable and doesn't seem to spend a lot of time in the comfort zones of life.

I'm reminded of the Apostle Paul's missionary endeavors. In 2 Corinthians 11:24-27 he tells how he was often beaten, stoned, shipwrecked three times, in constant danger, etc. That certainly sounds much worse than the thwarting we've had. In Hebrews 11, we are reminded of the people of faith of whom the world was not worthy. These were those who "faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated". The Scriptures are full of the stories of men and women that God used in the midst of trials and very few, if any, examples in which trials were His way of saying "you're going the wrong direction", apart from Jonah who was intentionally running away from what he knew God wanted.

Do I like pain? Do I like putting myself and my family at risk? Absolutely not! Yet, we have found that following God in spite of the dangers to be the only safe place. This makes no sense to our pleasure and comfort oriented society, but it is in these deep and dangerous waters where God seems to reside. He's asking us all to completely trust him, like Peter stepping out of the boat to follow Him, or like Abraham who left his home and went forward while not knowing where he was going, to be obedient even unto death like Christ.

I wrote in another article "Life Unexpected" that I'm learning that God is much more concerned about the journey of life than our destination. He isn't so concerned about what we accomplish or even if we die. He is concerned about who we become on the way. As I’ve said before, I see this life as an interim period before God’s restoration, or as CS Lewis stated, “a correctional facility”. In this life with its trials and challenges we have the opportunity to grow and come to know Him in a way we do not when life is smooth sailing.

In the midst of our current trials, we are growing and flourishing. It is very tough, very frustrating, often baffling, but we know that we are walking hand in hand with God, even though we don’t know where He is taking us. For us, staying in step with Him and growing through the challenges is all that really matters.