When Following Jesus Doesn’t Get Easier

We are ordinary people with complex, imperfect lives who need God’s grace each day. Discipleship is a lifelong journey of humbly walking with Jesus and one another.

Following Jesus isn’t about arriving.

It’s not about getting to a place where life feels clear, stable, or fully figured out. It’s a lifelong journey of surrender, grace, and growth. We are ordinary people with imperfect lives—and God meets us right in the middle of the process.

For Brent Hampson, that journey hasn’t looked the way he expected.

Following Jesus Isn’t About Arriving

Brent and his wife Stephanie have five kids, and for years, their life was rooted in British Columbia, just outside Vancouver. They had stability, a home they loved, and a future that made sense.

“I think for most of my life, I would’ve said I believed in God and wanted to follow Him,” Brent shared. “But if I’m honest, I still wanted to be the one in control.”

Brent describes himself as structured and driven, someone who likes to plan ahead and know where things are going. And without realizing it, he brought that same mindset into his faith.

“If I just did the right things,” he said, “I thought I could build the life God wanted for me.”

He assumed that following Jesus would eventually lead to clarity. Maybe even ease. That if he was faithful enough, he’d arrive at a place where everything made sense. But God had something different in mind.

When Faith Still Looks Like Control

Years earlier, Brent stepped into a ministry opportunity that didn’t go the way he expected. It left him discouraged, frustrated, and wrestling with disappointment. Looking back now, he sees something more clearly.

“I had a tendency to run ahead of God,” he said. “I thought I was doing the right thing, but I was still trying to drive.”

Over time, through the people in his life, mentorship, and many honest conversations with God, Brent began to understand what surrender really means. Not just believing in God. But letting God lead.

When God Begins to Redirect

Then came a moment that would stretch that surrender even further.

Brent and his family began sensing that God might be leading them to leave everything they had built in Canada and move to the Tri-Cities.

It didn’t make sense on paper. They had a good life, a strong foundation, comfort, and community. So they prayed and fasted. They asked God to make His direction clear. And step by step, He did.

Their house sold almost immediately. Doors began to open. And eventually, they said yes, moving their family and stepping into a new season working in Stephanie’s family business. But clarity isn’t what came next. It was challenge.

Saying Yes Without Knowing the Outcome

“The work has been hard,” Brent said. “There have been days I’ve wanted to quit. Days where I feel like I’m in over my head. And of course, days I have my doubts about God’s plan for the future in all of this.”

And yet, it’s in that exact place that something deeper has been happening.

“God’s been showing me that following Him isn’t about arriving somewhere where everything makes sense, it’s about surrender.”

Not once but daily. Staying when it’s hard, and trusting Him without knowing the outcome.

“I still want to be in control sometimes,” Brent admitted. “I still want to know where it’s all going. I still want results.”

But God keeps bringing him back to the same invitation: Stay. Trust Me. Take the next step.

What the Journey Actually Looks Like

And maybe that’s where this story meets all of us. Because often, we think following Jesus means eventually getting to a place where we’ve figured things out. We settle into comfort. We rely on what we know. We assume we’ve grown enough. Or we build the life we want…and then invite God into it.

But as Brent put it: “Sometimes we just want to do what we want to do… and then tap God onto it.”

We Haven’t Arrived

The journey with Jesus is something else entirely. It’s not about arriving. It’s not about control. It’s not about having a clear picture of what comes next. It’s about being formed day by day.

Choosing to trust Him again. Choosing not to run ahead. Choosing to follow, even when it’s uncomfortable.

Brent is still in that process.

“I don’t have a clean ending,” he said. “I don’t fully understand what God is doing or where it’s all going. But I know He’s changing me.”

And maybe that’s the point. Following Jesus isn’t about arriving. It’s about being formed. Slowly, daily, often in ways we wouldn’t choose, until our lives begin to reflect Him more and more. And if we’re honest, it’s easy to drift into thinking we’ve arrived.

We settle into comfort. We rely on what we know. We build lives that feel stable and manageable. Or we move forward with our plans and simply invite God into them.

But the journey of discipleship keeps calling us back.

Back to surrender, to trust, and back to Jesus.

Because we are all still in process. And God meets us right there.

Thank you for reading!

Each week, we’ll share a story from someone in our Bethel family. These written stories will explore their faith journey, how God has been at work in their life, and how it connects to one of our five values. Stay tuned for more stories.

• Week 1: The Journey

• Week 2: Real Relationships

• Week 3: Sacred Rhythms

• Week 4: Diverse Unity

• Week 5: Generous Lives