“But now, this is what the LORD says – he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze'” (Isaiah 43:1-2).

Pretty sure God didn’t get the memo. You see, when I signed up for this Christian life thing I am pretty sure I didn’t check the “Trials and Tribulations” package. I am pretty sure I signed up for the “Easy Street” package. I mean, who in their right mind would choose the “Trials and Tribulations” package? Right?

I love verse one of Isaiah 43. It tells that God created and formed us. Because God is our Creator we have nothing to fear for God has redeemed us. God summons us by name for we are his.

Wow! That’s good stuff. That’s exactly what I’m talking about!

It’s verse two. That’s what makes me think God didn’t get my memo about “Easy Street.”

Verse two says, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”

TIME OUT!!!!! SAY WHAT?!?!?!

The “Easy Street” package avoids the waters, avoids the rivers, and avoids the fires. But what God promises is not that God will take us out of the waters, out of the rivers, and out of the fire but that he will be with us in the waters, rivers, and fire.

God doesn’t promise to take us out of troubles and tribulations, but that he will be present with us through troubles and tribulations. And the reason why God doesn’t take us out of troubles and tribulations is because there are lessons that can only learned in troubles and tribulations that we cannot learn anywhere else. God takes us through our troubles and tribulations because God’s goal isn’t to make our lives comfortable, but to make us more like his Son.

God didn’t get my memo. But that’s okay. I am finally starting to understand his.

“Do you know know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever” (1 Corinthians 9:24-25).

Training is hard.

Discipleship is hard.

Becoming like Christ is hard.

Because Godly training and Christ-like discipleship is difficult it is easy to get discouraged. The reality is that no matter how much we improve, we will never be like Christ. No matter how much we try to live the perfect life, we can’t do it.

But, here’s the secret to discipleship. God knows all this. The goal of spiritual training is not perfection but progress. The main question to consider is whether you are making progress. Are you better today than you were a year ago? Congratulations! Way to go! Keep at it!

If you’re not better today than you were a year ago, let’s get back to training. Let’s get back to working on progress.

You can do it. You will be so much happier a year from now.

This is what spiritual training looks like:

1. Read God’s word every day
2. Pray. Set aside a time to pray every day
3. Worship. Make worshiping God on God’s day non-negotiable. You can do it in person and you can worship online. Just make sure you worship
4. Serve. Find a way to make a difference

Let’s get training!

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you” (James 1:5).

How do you know what God’s will is? How do you know if what you’re feeling, thinking, sensing is from God or not? How do you know?

Is it possible to discern God’s will for sure? How can you tell that the things you’ve been thinking all day is a prompting from God or the result of a terrible night’s sleep from a bad pepperoni pizza? How do you know?

The first rule of thumb is that if it’s from God, it will not contradict what God has already revealed in God’s word. If it goes against what God teaches, that is not from God.

I saw this on social media pasted by @godlyunity and found it helpful:

• If it’s from God it won’t steal your joy.
• If it’s from God it won’t take life from you.
• If it’s from God it won’t damage your confidence.
• If it’s from God it won’t rush you into decisions.
• If it’s from God it won’t make you chase it.
• If it’s from God it won’t ask you to compromise.

If it’s from God, it will not go against what God has already said in God’s word.