I’ve heard it said on numerous occasions and I’m sure if you search, you’ll see I’ve posted similar thoughts before, but one of the most frustrating things I face is when I hear people say “I tried that and God wasn’t in it.” Is it possible that this is the case? Absolutely, but I am always tempted to dig a little deeper. “How do you know God wasn’t in it?” The response usually has something to do with the degree of difficulty. “It was just really hard.” So if something is difficult, it’s a sign that God isn’t in it? If that is the case, we might as well all quit being Christians now, (please don’t, I’m going somewhere with this…) because who had it tougher than Jesus. If something being a difficult is a sign that God isn’t in it, what is the message of the cross? No, the best things in life are worth fighting for. We have a faith that many felt was worth dying for and it is on their shoulders that we stand. Things being difficult is aggravating, and we wish God would make all this stuff easy, but our life on this planet is short and eternity is long. We are running a good race and fighting a good fight, and at the end of this race and this fight is an amazing eternal reward that will be worth more than any struggles we may face in this life to get there.
It could also have something to do with a lack of success. Sometimes people think that if they don’t hit a certain number or level of success that it is a clear sign that God isn’t in it. This is another falsehood. Consider Jesus. While multitudes occasionally came to hear Him speak, a lot of those were essentially miracle seekers and people hanging on for a free meal. It seems for the most part his actual follower count never went much above 120. A lot of churches would fire Pastor Jesus for this. A lot of churches are wrong, but it gets worse. In John 6 it appears that Jesus lost almost all, to the point where He was even asking the 12 if they were going to leave too and even one of them ended up betraying Him, but think of the movement that small number started. Everyone who is a Christian today is one at least in part because of the work of those few men and the reason for that is simple. They were all imperfect people empowered by a perfect God. A little in the hands of God is everything. Don’t measure success by volume, measure it by faithfulness. In God’s hands a little is a lot, so don’t give up.
Finally, sometimes people speak of facing opposition as a sign that God’s not in something. Again who faced more opposition than our Lord, the Son of God, Jesus Christ? I would argue no one, especially if we could see into the supernatural realm. The life of Jesus is the culmination of an epic battle between good and evil, and what looked to the enemy to be God’s ultimate defeat, ended up being His greatest victory. Likewise the reason our missions are so difficult, why the race is long and the battle is hard is precisely because of this opposition. The battle is hard because the victory is sweet. So if you’re struggling in your mission, check yourself, make sure you are not in sin or even inadvertently doing wrong. God won’t bless that. Also check yourself in the area of pride, because God opposes the proud, but He also gives grace to the humble, so if pride is an issue repent of it and walk in His grace, but if sin and pride are not the issue, stand firm and press on. The example of our Lord shows us that God is in hard things. And if you are in it with Him, He will be with you through it all.
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