Hello friends! I hope that you are doing well. I’ve been thinking a lot about this concept called “hard-easy” that I learned from my husband’s business coach several years ago and I believe that I should share this concept with you.

It’s a principle that I instinctively applied when I was in college but I didn’t realize it. The gist is that you do the hardest and most difficult work first, and then the easier work later. So if you hate writing then you do your writing assignment first, and do the easier subject later on in the week. It’s “hard-easy”. 

I believe that this principle also applies well in our spiritual development. In my college years, I tried hard to follow God and to live a godly life and stay in fellowship with the church. Despite my efforts I abandoned my faith in my mid-20s when I was in transition and isolated from fellowship. In those days, the church rarely taught from the Old Testament books and I don’t remember any preaching about God’s judgment or discipline. These subjects are very hard topics to teach and learn. 

In the last 13 years, I had to keep my fellowship and involvement with church community at a minimum. I have much more freedom than before, but still I have to be mindful about my husband’s discomfort. That’s why if I ever meet you in public with him, I’d like to introduce you as a friend through the school or gym or someplace else. He would get aloof towards friends from the church community. Sorry, please don’t take it personally. 

In my greater isolation from the church body, I had to figure out how to stay faithful on my own. I discovered that studying the Bible did what I lacked in fellowship. Therefore out of sheer necessity, I studied the Bible a lot! There are 66 books in the Holy Bible and I’ve only scratched the surface. Now that I have done in-depth studies on some Old Testament books and even the book of Revelation; I have developed a very good healthy fear of the Lord. I’ve discovered that this fear of God is clean and it is also good for me. Once you study and understand the core principles in the Old Testament books which in my opinion are the hard subjects, then the easy subjects like the forgiveness of God of our sins through Jesus Christ; God’s grace, mercy and love are the easy subjects. It’s “hard-easy”. 

You might ask “why bother studying the hard subjects of the Old Testament books?” Here are some benefits that I’ve listed from my experiences:
1. It’ll help you to say no to sin and pride that will destroy your life and hurt those you love. You will only see that later, after you pass the temptation tests of sin and pride. 
2. You will stick very close to God and understand/love the benefits of having His daily guidance and fellowship. This makes you less dependent on people and their approval. 
3. Circumstances will have less affect on your faith and even in the worst circumstances, you will experience the most powerful comfort of God through the Holy Spirit.
4. More of your prayers will be answered because now you understand God’s will better. Your family, friends and community will be blessed through your prayers that are aligned with God’s word. 
5. You will make less mistakes in life’s decisions and so you will save lots of time, stress and money too. 
6. There is great confidence and peace that come when you know that the path or decision was made with God’s counsel. Therefore even if the path becomes very hard and difficult, you know that you are in His perfect will for you. And where God guides, He will also provide. 
7. You will have less confusion, conflict, and worldly fears and anxieties. So if you are the type who has lots of worries and fears, then replace them with the healthy fear of the Lord. Print out bible verses or do a bible study about this subject. From my experiences, any Old Testament books will give you a healthy fear of God. 
8. You will have great resilience and endurance because the fear of the Lord will prevent you from giving up.
9. New Testament books will make much more sense and even-more, you will greatly appreciate the new covenant of grace that we are in today because of Jesus Christ’s work on the cross. 
10. My hope grows as I dream about my eternity in heaven and also the new earth that is to come (I learned this when I studied the book of Revelation). 

I could go on longer but I’ll stop here. I hope that I’ve convinced you a little on why studying the hard subjects that are revealed in the Old Testament books would be a great benefit to you. There are so many resources available today for free or for a small fee. As the fall semester is approaching, many small groups are starting up in all the churches. I recommend in-person learning but if you are short on time then do a virtual learning class.

This message was excellent. It’s about key things to remember when you are walking through a dark, difficult season. Even if you are not currently, you should listen so that you will prepared beforehand because this life on earth is full of hard seasons. Their guest speaker uses the life of Joseph (Old Testament character in book of Genesis) to teach us things to remember in the dark.  

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pjV_dq_qvcU

Hurting Moms, Mending Heartsministry was created by a Christian mom who was in deep pain when her child became a drug addict. I’ve comforted and prayed for a close friend in this desperate place and I can not imagine the pain as their children became an unrecognizable person controlled by the demonic monster of addiction. Perhaps it isn’t drugs but a bad mental illness that has captured your child, and  hurting your heart immensely. Please look into joining this group’s virtual group so you can hold onto your faith and keep on praying for your child. You can not give up. Use your mama-bear love and endurance that God has already implanted into your soul when you gave birth to your children. As Winston Churchill said to his English people during the height of air raids by the Nazis in WWII – “Never, Never, Never Give Up!”  

https://hurtingmomsmendinghearts.org/

In 2016 when I was peeled away (it felt like that for me) from the safety of the Wednesday women’s bible study group and commissioned by the Holy Spirit to set up the women’s prayer group at my church, I experienced many scary supernatural events in my first year leading this group. Why didn’t I just abort this group? It was because I had the fear of the Lord. He did not release me from my post. My fear of God was greater than my fears of demonic activities. It was the year when I started to get lots of white hair too. 

Despite my healthy fear of the Lord, the supernatural attacks were still too scary for me. As I was contemplating ending the prayer group, this is when the Holy Spirit reminded me about my son, Evan’s future career. When Evan was 5 years old, we were going into NYC for a friend’s daughter’s Jewish baby naming ceremony. My husband and daughter couldn’t come because of a soccer tournament and so it was just me and Evan. We were inside the Lincoln Tunnel moving slowly due to traffic and the car was silent because the car lost radio frequency. Suddenly, I heard a loud voice in my spirit and the voice declared “Evan will be an evangelist!” 😳 I’ve kept this declaration in my heart for a long time. But whenever I heard from full-time evangelists, I’d pay attention to their work stories. It sounds exciting but also very dangerous work! They go to dangerous locations and they can be attacked supernaturally too. 

Today my son, Evan has no interest in God, church or Jesus. It’ll be interesting to see how God will grab his attention. When he does, this mama-bear will be very happy, and ready to teach him about the principles of God. I’ll start with the “hard-easy” principles because in my opinion the dangers and temptations are so great for young people. Please don’t shy away from teaching the kids the Old Testament books. It’ll be these stories that they will help them to turn away from temptations. I highly recommend studying the book of Daniel with your children if possible before high school. Today “high school is the new college” according to a youth pastor that I heard from. I’ll try to find that podcast and share with you next time. God bless you abundantly! Happy studying!