When Following Jesus Feels Hard: Is Jesus Still Worth It?

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When Walking Away From God Feels Easier

There are moments when following Jesus can feel a little like assembling furniture from a box that came with one-hundred and seventeen pieces, three mysterious screws, and instructions translated from a language you don't speak.

You keep trying and praying. You do your best to obey the scripture, and forgive others when you'd rather send a strongly worded text. You go to church and try your best to love difficult people. You do everything you can to get your life together, and somehow, instead of everything getting easier, another wheel falls off of your seemingly, perfect life.

That is when you find out that your marriage is still struggling or the bills are still waiting to be paid. Or how about when the diagnosis didn't disappear, or the job you interviewed for didn't materialize. And at last, for good measure, your prodigal child is still wandering.

And eventually a question creeps into your heart that many Christians are afraid to even say out loud:

“God, if I'm trying so hard to follow You, why is my life still so hard?”

Sometimes the temptation isn't necessarily to stop believing in God. It's simply to stop trying so hard. And strangely enough, when we loosen our grip on obedience, life can feel easier. There is no more wrestling with conviction. No more feeling guilty about the attitude we know isn't right; and no more asking, “What would Jesus do?” especially when what Jesus would do is inconvenient.

We can simply do what we want. And for a little while, that can feel like freedom. But there's a problem. Feeling free and actually being free aren't always the same thing.

When we slow down to find out why, we realize pretty fast that Jesus never promised an easy life. One of the biggest misconceptions about Christianity is that following Jesus is supposed to make our earthly lives comfortable. However, Jesus never made that promise. In fact, He said almost the opposite.

He told His followers:

“In this world you will have tribulation.” (John 16:33)

Now, that's not exactly the verse you would put on a coffee mug and give as a gift to someone you are trying to win to Jesus or the Christian life. But Jesus didn't stop there. He continued:

“But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

He never once implied that,“You won't have trouble.” He said, “You won't face trouble alone.

That's a very different promise. Friend, Christianity isn't an insurance policy against flat tires, heartbreak, disappointment, bad news, or appliances that suddenly decide to die one week before the holidays.

Following Jesus doesn't mean you will live free from trouble life or heart break. It means when things start breaking down, your hope doesn't have to break with it.

The problem with some Christians is they have never accepted the fact that they are loved and that God never asked them to earn His love.

Perhaps one of the most exhausting things Christians do is attempt to earn something God has already freely given.

They have thoughts like:

If I pray more, maybe God will be happier with me.

If I stop making mistakes, maybe God will finally approve of me.

If I become a better Christian, perhaps I'll finally feel worthy.

But the gospel dear one, says something radically different. Jesus didn't come because you were good enough. He came because you weren't—and neither was I.

Ephesians 2:8–9 reminds us that we are saved by grace through faith, not because of our works. That means Christianity does not involve a spiritual employee-performance review. God isn't sitting in heaven with a clipboard saying:

“Hmm. Jane only prayed for 17 minutes today. Deduct three points.”

Thank God…. Because if salvation depended on my performance, I'd be in trouble before breakfast.

Maybe the real issue is that we are asking the wrong questions.

Instead of:

“Will following Jesus make my life easier?”

perhaps we should ask:

“Is Jesus worth following even when life is hard?”

And the answer in Scripture is an emphatic yes. Why? It is a yes because Jesus doesn't merely offer us better circumstances... He offers us Himself.

He offers forgiveness, reconciliation with God, and peace that circumstances cannot manufacture. One of the greatest promises is that He offers His presence in the valley and hope when the future looks frightening. The greatest of all is eternal life.

And perhaps the most astonishing of all, is that He promises that nothing; not suffering, failure, loss, persecution, disappointment, or even death can ultimately separate us from His love.

Paul wrote in Romans Chapter 8: 38-39:

“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38–39)

Now, that's better than having a good week, my friend. That's eternal security in the middle of a bad one!

Sometimes the real blessing is that God carries you through the storm. We often pray for God to remove the storm...but sometimes God's answer is to strengthen us inside the storm. When we ask Him to change the circumstances, He begins changing us.

We ask Him for a way out and he takes our hand and says, “Don’t fear, I will walk you through this.”

For God promises us in the book of Isaiah that “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.”

There's that phrase again: I will be with you.

When we finally let this truth sink way down deep into our souls, we realize that even though difficult things happen, and we do not always get what we pray for, that we are never alone.

However, when some people walk away from God, they think life feels easier. They stop being convicted about the things they are doing. However, silence is not always peace. After all, a smoke alarm that has been disconnected isn't evidence that the house is safe. It's evidence that the alarm isn't making noise anymore.

There is a difference between conviction and condemnation.

Condemnation says:

“You failed. You're hopeless. Hide from God.”

Conviction says:

“Come home. Let's deal with this together.”

Jesus doesn't expose our sin to humiliate us. He exposes it so that He can heal us.

So, when it comes down to it, I guess the most important question you may need to ask yourself should be: “Is Jesus worth it?”

If you're measuring Jesus by how smoothly your life goes, you may become disappointed. But if you're measuring Him by who He is, what He has done, and where He is taking you, everything changes.

Oh my, how the world can offer temporary comfort, but Jesus offers eternal hope. The world says, “You better watch your back” Jesus says, “Trust Me.”

The world says, “Do whatever makes you happy.” Jesus says there is a joy deeper than temporary happiness.

And the world says, “You'd better pull yourself together.”Jesus says:

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

That doesn't sound like a Savior promising a trouble-free life. It sounds like a Savior promising His presence in a troubled life.

And maybe that's the better gift. Because eventually, every house needs repairs. Most of us will get old. Every bank account fluctuates. Every earthly relationship has limitations. Every earthly success eventually becomes yesterday's old news. However, the one consistent promise is that Christ remains.

So if you're standing somewhere today wondering whether following Jesus is worth the struggle, let me gently remind you: You were never promised an easy road...You were promised a Shepherd.

And sometimes the greatest evidence of His faithfulness isn't that He kept you from walking through the valley. It's that you walked through it and discovered He never left your side.

Psalm 23 doesn't say, “Though I avoid the valley of the shadow of death.”

It says:

“Though I walk through the valley...you are with me.”

That means, through it. Not around it. Not always over it. But through it.

By the way, if Jesus is with you, the valley isn't your destination. It's just part of the journey. The Shepherd who walks with you through the valley is the same Shepherd who is leading you home.

When you stop long enough to evaluate your life and whether Jesus is really worth it, you will probably do what I did years ago when I came to that crossroad. I decided that I was so completely desperate for Him.

After all in Matthew 5:3 it says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven”

Oh my friend, from that day forward, I am here to say that I have never once regretted, doubted, or wondered if Jesus is worth it. Not in the mountaintops, and not in the valleys. Not when life has been easy, and certainly not when it has been hard. He has been worth every yes, every sacrifice, every surrender, and every step of faith.

And if I could leave you with just one thing, it would be this: Jesus is still worth it. Always has been. Always will be. Selah.

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