Improvement without inconvenience

[notice]A fortnightly devotional based on everyday experiences.[/notice]
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. When you cross rivers, you will not drown. When you walk through fire, you will not be burned, nor will the flames hurt you. Isaiah 43:2 (NCV)

I was driving home with a friend the other night and the conversation turned to all the road works.

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The government has been working on the roads for over a year. While the roads must be getting better in the long term, at the moment it feels like the roads are getting worse, much worse.

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As we spoke I realised that what I really want is improvement without inconvenience.

I want things to advance, to grow and to change without my world being affected. And I’m not only referring to road works.

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I want to become more like Jesus without having to struggle with myself or issues or the reality of pain.

I often find myself thinking, “Just make it better, easily, please God.”

Driving the other night I realized whether I like it or not, growth often means being inconvenienced.

And that God isn’t scared of shaking my life up in order to see me grow to look like more like him.

There are so many popular verses about how God will comfort and guide us; it’s easy to avoid the stories of people who were really inconvenienced in order to grow.

Think of Moses running away from home.
Think of Jonah in a whale.
Think of Daniel in a lions den.
Think of Paul being blinded.

Think of just about anyone who God used to dramatically affect the world and their life was inconvenienced.

These biblical stories aren’t just about being annoyed by having to take a detour to avoid road works; these are the kind of inconveniences that make you wonder if growing into the person God wants you to be is worth it.

But when you’re inconvenienced and when life is hard, and you’re swimming against the current or when you’ve been burnt by someone you thought you could trust, or even been through a hard time physically, you can lean on the truth that God will be with you.

And that one promise is worth all the inconvenience in the world.

Do you believe that God is with you no matter what? How do you deal with inconveniences in your life do you believe that God can use them to help you grow?