Easier Does Not Mean Better

On occasion my wife and I will look at our two dogs asleep on the couch and jokingly say, “It must be nice.” Meaning, these dogs have a pretty cushy existence. They sleep all night, and their days are essentially one big nap interspersed with mealtimes, insane bouts of barking at the neighbors, and waiting for our teenagers to drop food on the kitchen floor. “It must be nice.” We utter these words as we think about busy schedules, parenting challenges, physical pain, and other “trials of various kinds” (James 1:2). Life is not easy, and I don’t know many people who think it is.

In fact, because we live in a fallen world, and the curse is ever-present, life can sometimes be devastatingly difficult. We have probably all experienced a season of suffering wherein we asked the question, “Why didn’t God just stop this from happening?” We know God is all-powerful, so we surmise that if He can stop something from happening, it would be better if He did. We assume “easier” means “better.” No one wants life to hurt. Pain doesn’t feel good, so we can easily conclude that a pain-free experience is a superior experience.

But is that God’s perspective? Think of the Book of Esther with me. A Jew named Mordecai refuses to honor Haman, the second in command to the king of Persia (3:2). As a result, Haman is furious and executes a wicked plan to have the king sign off on a decree stating that all the Jews in the kingdom are to be annihilated on a specific date several months in the future (3:5–15). As you can imagine, this leads to “great mourning among the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting” (4:3).

Now, if you’ve read the book, you know that, in the end, God delivers the Jews and there is great celebration where there had been great mourning (9:20–22). With this in mind, we might ask, “Wouldn’t it have been better if God would have taken Haman out of the picture before he set his plan in motion?” Indeed, if Haman had never risen to his powerful position, then the Jews would have been spared all their grief. Every husband despairing at the thought of his wife dying, every mother struck with terror as she imagines the end her child will face—all gone. I mean, if God was planning on preserving them anyway, why put them through this agony at all?

Well, think of all that would not have transpired if God had chosen what was easier. Esther would not have exhibited great faith in risking her life to plead with the king for the lives of her people (4:16). We would not have this account of God’s poetic justice in having Haman hanged on the same gallows he constructed for Mordecai (7:9–10). The Jews would not have felt the sweet mercy of God in fully preserving them on the day their enemies attacked them (9:1). They would not have had the opportunity to rejoice and celebrate their deliverance with such satisfaction (9:17–19). The precision of God’s sovereignty, wisdom, and goodness would not have been displayed with such clarity.

The same can be said of the death of Christ. He could have chosen what was easier, but He prayed, “Not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). He could have chosen what was easier, but He refused to appeal to His Father for the aid of more than twelve legions of angels (Matthew 26:53). He could have chosen what was easier, but he remained on the cross as the mockers jeered, “He saved others; He cannot save himself” (Matthew 27:42). 

But then there would be no forgiveness of sins, no reconciliation with God, no eternal life, no union with Christ, no church . . . and the list goes on. Easier does not mean better.

What about you? What is there in your life that you wish God would have prevented? Where in your life do you wish God had chosen what was easier? I’m sure these burdens are heavy, and some of them torturous, but imagine what would not be true if you had never experienced them. Did you learn to rely on God (2 Corinthians 1:8–9)? Did you return from your sinful pursuits to faithful obedience (Psalm 119:67)? Did God open your eyes to grasp His Word more deeply (Psalm 119:71)? Did you mature in your faith (James 1:2–5)? Did you behold the sufficient grace of Christ in your weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9)?

Perhaps, you’re thinking, “But I don’t see the good He is working through this difficulty, so what you’re saying doesn’t help me.” If that’s the case, please remember that we don’t have to see the good to believe that He is working it out. Hold on to this reality: in the plan of God, “this light, momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17). When we reach that eternal weight of glory, no one will doubt that easier does not mean better.