Some things Christians fear are the very things Jesus said we would face. Jesus promised opposition to those who were serious about following him. This means that if you’re on the receiving end of hostility based on your closeness to Christ, you’re in the right place—and Christ is glorified in how you respond.
5. Pain
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but pain is coming for us all. As sure as you draw breath, things are going to happen that you didn’t expect or desire. The sooner you come to grips with that truth and quit avoiding it, the sooner you can get on with living passionately.
Among the things Christians fear we spend a lot of time avoiding pain’s inevitability, both in our own life and in the lives of others. We miss out on a lot of what makes life incredible.
While I don’t embrace a theology that makes God the author of the bad things we experience, I do believe that he excels in turning our defeats, sorrows and disappointments into amazing victories and opportunities to display his glory.
We don’t just miss out by avoiding our own pain, we miss out when we avoid the pain of those around us. Sometimes it’s scarier to enter into the terror of someone else’s experience because we don’t know what to do, and it reminds us of our own vulnerability.
Truly trusting God means that we, of all people, should be running toward the uncertain, precarious areas of life. We should be the most courageous, audacious and resolute people on the planet.
