God is Not Tame

“We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.”
— Acts 14:22

For most of my life, I thought following God meant things would mostly work out. That if I lived wisely, made good choices, and stayed close to Him, life would stay on track. Manageable. Predictable.

When I followed the call into pastoral ministry, I thought for sure God would protect me from the difficult seasons – or at least keep me from getting beat down to the point I would be questioning whether I even heard His call correctly.

I thought for sure someone as beautiful and loving as Kimberley would outlive me – especially if morality right-living played any factor into God’s hand of mercy.

God didn’t behave the way I expected. He didn’t make it easier. He didn’t explain Himself. And He didn’t show up on my timeline. But He was there—mysterious, fierce, sometimes painfully silent. Not safe. Not tame. But good.

Here’s the truth: none of this is safe. We were all born into a broken world with a terminal condition. Death will come for all of us—the people closest to us first, and eventually, ourselves.

Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble.” That wasn’t an indictment of the world. It was a reality check.

You don’t get to avoid soul-crushing suffering as a Christ-follower. The only question is how you’ll meet it. Will you deny it, insulate yourself from it, try to numb it? Or will you let it shape you?

The path of following Jesus doesn’t lead us around pain—it takes us straight through it. And somehow, that’s where God meets us most deeply. The upside-down truth of the Kingdom is this: God is most present in the moments we most want to avoid.

In Acts 14, the apostle Paul is stoned and left for dead. Then almost immediately, he gets back up, walks back into the city, and tells the believers, “Through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God.”

In a world obsessed with comfort and control, that kind of truth is confusing—maybe even distressing. But that’s who God is – not tame, but good. He’s not a formula. He can’t be managed. He appears to come and go like Aslan in Narnia—on His own terms, not ours.

And yet, He’s always working for our redemption.

Comfort almost never forms anyone. But suffering can. How we respond to it—how we lean in or avoid it—shapes who we are as followers of Jesus.

There were days during Kimberley’s illness when I would have traded every dollar I had just to make it stop. But now, I can say I would not trade the person I’ve become because of that pain.

God didn’t tame me. He stripped me down. And in doing so, He showed me how to trust Him again.

Are you following a God you can control? Or the real one?

The road to the Kingdom is narrow, thorny, and wild. But it leads to life. And the One leading you—though not tame—is good.