The Established Path of Discipleship

“What did you expect?” Our less-than-comforting friends ask this question when things don’t go our way. In response, we are tempted to say, “Well, thanks a lot, Captain Comfort.” We may want to check our snarkiness because there is an element of truth to their question. Our expectations of life in a fallen world are often unrealistic.

A cursory walk through the New Testament gives us a dose of reality. Jesus says, “In the world, you will have tribulation” (John 16:33). We say yes, but that’s only if we sin and mess up, right? Well, no, Paul says, “All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12). Jesus says, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you” (John 15:18). We say, but that’s only if I’m a mean Christian, right? Nope. Jesus says, “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:19).

Do not make the mistake of only taking in a partial dose of biblical reality. Jesus also says, “I have said these things to you, that in me you have peace…But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Paul says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Cor. 1:3-4). And in this world of tribulation, Jesus prays, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15).

Realistic expectations of life for a Christian in this world include suffering, persecution, and being hated by the world. These realistic expectations also include peace, comfort, and the protection of our praying Savior. No one can know or predict how God’s providence will work out in their life. We can, however, look at life through the lens of biblical expectations and comfort each other accordingly.