It is a common misconception that the life of a Christian should be easy. I’m not sure where that idea came from since even Jesus didn’t live an easy life. The Holy Spirit actually led Jesus into a place where He would be tempted, 40 days of no food and living in the wilderness. He was faced with temptations from Satan himself. As God’s children, should we expect any less?

Difficult times are not enjoyed. I’m sure Jesus didn’t enjoy those 40 days of battle. I believe He saw the difficult times through the lens of eternal victory rather than temporary trials as He used the Word as His weapon. Because He fixed His eyes on the eternal victory, He was able to not give in to the temptations.

A year ago, I faced a difficult journey. I had 30% of my kidney removed fully believing along with the doctor that the mass being removed was malignant. Over 2 months we lived in the “what ifs”. We were tempted to give up, to be angry, to question, to live in fear, but God…. He faithfully reminded us to not lose heart. He reminded us to keep our eyes focused on eternity. As His children, we could look on the difficult times through the lens of eternal victory rather than the temporary trial. It was quite a journey where the Word was our weapon. Praise God, my difficult journey ended in a miracle. The journey itself, though, left me with a greater trust in God and a greater vision of looking at difficult times through the lens of eternal victory.

Let’s not expect life to be easy. It wasn’t for Jesus. Let us use the Word as our weapon and view difficulties as temporary times of growth leading us to eternal victory! The lens of eternal victory gives great strength, courage, and hope!

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.—Matthew 4:1

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.—2 Corinthians 4:16-18