Peace

"In what ways is serving the Lord difficult for you?"

My sunday school leader asked us this question as they finished up the book of Joshua. I didn't get to go through the book with them and my knowledge of the bible is quite limited (even more so when it comes to old testament) so I can't tell you what happened with Joshua but I can share with you my own thoughts and hopefully they can bring you some encouragement. 

The most difficult thing about serving God to me is that sometimes it means you have to stand alone. Non-christians may persecute you, they might think you're crazy or blinded by religion. Sometimes even your brothers and sisters may question you. Everyone has a different calling and sometimes what God tells you may be different from what others expect of you. This can cause a lot of discouragements and disagreements and if its handled poorly, even broken relationships. It can be a rather painful situation to be in. 

But God will never leave your side. 

When you choose God, this peace and joy will overcome you. I don't know if its the same for you guys but for me I can literally feel it coming from deep inside my heart. That was when I finally realized how shallow suffering really is. I have always been someone whose emotions are strongly connected to my heart; so when I'm sad my heart would feel sad and if I was angry it would feel like a fire raging. This time I can literally feel the depth of peace and joy in my heart compared to the negative emotions. Maybe you're not crazy like me and feel emotions the way I do but God will definitely grant you with peace. Don't give in to the negative feelings and allow his peace to overcome you. 

God is worth the fight; so don't give up and don't forget you're never alone. He will always be with you, helping you and guiding you through every obstacle. All we gotta do is let him in. Keep fighting the good fight!