Hard Things Come Easy

Have you ever wanted to enjoy all that God has for you? What does that mean and how do you have it? I have been a Christian for 20 years now and am just now figuring out that the things I want in my relationship with God are already there and come quite easily. I thought I had to study harder, or listen to more sermons, be more zealous for Jesus, make myself appear better than others to God... the list goes on and on.If I want to enjoy my relationship with God then I must simply stop trying to impress Him and just go after Him.

Let me approach it this way. Have you ever had something that came easy to you simply because you loved to do it? When I was in high school, baseball was that thing for me. I had a love for the game and excelled at it. I was not a natural, but I did love to play. I did not know it at the time, but on the field was not where I developed a love and passion for the game. It was in my backyard in Colonial Heights, Virginia. Many evenings after school, I would put on my glove, grab my bat and a tennis ball, and head outside. For hours I would throw the ball up against the house or up in the air and practice my catching and my swing. I'm sure neighbors or even my parents thought there were better things to do , but not me, I didn't even know I was working. As far as I was concerned, I was just doing what I loved to do.

My sophomore year the many nights of just doing what I loved started to show results. One day at my practice for the Junior Varsity team, my coach Harold Reynolds, aka "Dirty Harry", told the team that I would no longer be with them. My heart sunk and immediately I started trying to think of what I had done wrong. But then he said that i would be going to the Big Show on the Boulevard. That meant I was going to be playing for the varsity team at Shephard Stadium on the Boulevard. I couldn't believe it and didn't know why they were moving me up. When I went to the coach and inquired about the reason for the move, he showed me my stats. I didn't realize that I was playing so well. Stats were not important to me. I was just doing what I loved to do.

So what is the point I am trying to make? Not that I was a baseball great. Far from it! The point is, I went after what I loved with my whole heart. It didn't seem like hard work to me, but when I reflect back, it was. Stop trying so hard to see God work in your life. Stop trying to make something happen. Stop doing the CHURCH thing and start chasing after Him. Is He the one thing you can't wait to get to? During the day or at night are you going "out to the backyard" with God and enjoying Him? Doing church and being a Christian are good for those who want to stay in the Junior varsity, but if you are ready to move up to the Big Show, then here is some advice that I am finally yielding to : "Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, he who seeks finds, and to him knocks the door will be opened. " ( Matthew 7:7-8) Seems too good to be true? Well, it is true and it is good. So why don;t you head out to the backyard with God?