It’s hard when you’re young…..

I don’t mean young as in you are a teenager or in your early twenties.  Granted those are indeed hard times, filled with teenage angst, acne, college, and learning that life well…sometimes sucks.

I mean it’s hard when you are young in Christ.  When you are just a babe, freshly saved…or even saved for a long time but not quite mature.

It’s hard –

You’ve done what everyone has told you that you were supposed to do.  You have confessed with your mouth that Jesus is Lord (check), you believe in your heart that he died for your sins (check), you are doing your best to live a Christian lifestyle (kinda check?) and you may even be baptized (somewhat check?)….

So why does it feel like everything is worse? It almost seems like it isn’t worth it…right?

***But it does get better, beloved! It does!***

The truth of the matter is now you are on the Devil’s radar.  Before when you were out there living and whooping it up not caring which way your soul went, you were basically being pimped by the devil.  He owned you, and everything you did made him a profit in some way. Now that he no longer owns you (you are no longer profiting him), you are on his radar – and let’s face it, that’s not really a fun place to be.

That’s what no one tells you when you get saved.  Life may get harder (or at least seem that way).

There’s no welcome aboard package that says

“Thank you for getting saved! By the way things may get bumpy now, but KEEP THE FAITH.”

There’s no refrigerator magnet that cheerfully tells you:

“You should probably stay connected to the Church; the devil has you on the radar.”

Or even a smartphone app to let you know that it’s ok to ask God, “Why are things so hard?”

♦Now this is a disclaimer for the ones who have been saved for a while (and even the freshly saved ones) – sometimes it’s YOU.   Can’t always blame the devil, we have to be accountable for our own actions too.  For example – “They came and cut my lights off, the devil been trying me y ’all.  And then the neighbor tried to fight me!”  But you are two months behind on payment (you spent the money elsewhere) and you have been goading the neighbor for weeks….that’s not the devil.  That’s YOU.  God told us to be good stewards.  Plus that’s not Christlike…STOP IT.♦

Ok –

There is a positive to this! So please do not be discouraged.  Sometimes we go through things to bring us closer to God.  We just have to keep pressing and keep pushing.  It is easy to get tired, especially when you first get saved or when you are still maturing in Christ and things just keep happening.  Yet we are told that:

He gives strength to the weary,
            And to him who lacks might He increases power. (Isaiah 40:29)

He gives STRENGTH.  Think about that.  God will not just leave you out there with your tail hanging in the wind.  He will never leave nor forsake you.  You have to keep pushing.  Remember:

Faith is…

You only need a little faith to keep you going.  I mean it was faith that got you here in the first place right?  You believed in your heart and confessed with your mouth…remember?

Please, trust and believe that it won’t always be hard.  Things get easier and seasons change.  Change is inevitable.  It has to happen.  But God does not change.  His word does not change.  If He said it you can bet your bottom dollar It will happen, and trust me – that’s a wonderful thing.

Something that you can do to help make things easier is to find someone who can keep you accountable in Christ. A battle buddy as the military calls them.  Someone who can pray with you and help you along your walk, because walking alone isn’t necessary.  Get connected to a Church (Seriously! It will help! Pinky promise), and develop a RELATIONSHIP with God.  He wants one with you.

Hope –

That’s a strong verse to look at.  Hope on the Lord.  He didn’t bring you through and give you a testimony (you are a living testimony) that you can use to minister to someone else, just to leave you wherever you are because things are hard.  He will make a way.  The reason I know this is because He did it for me. 

So I know that if God did it for ME He will do it for YOU. WHY? Because He loves YOU just as much as He loves ME. Plus He kinda told us that He is with us and He will keep us:

Life is hard.  Being a Christian in today’s day and age is harder.  That’s just the truth of it all.  But because we have the Lord on our side WE CANNOT FAIL! Just hold on.  If you need you can even reach out to me on my Facebook page (Faith Raine) and I’ll help however I can.  God loves you and so do I.  His name is a strong tower.  Don’t be afraid to use it when times get rough.

At the end of the day we have to trust that when times are hard that God is still in control. Continue to step out on faith.  It will all work out.  Trust God.

©Words With Faith2017