Nothing Simple is Ever Easy

One summer, while I was in school at the University of Tennessee I found a job as a deckhand at one of our local marinas. I had been driving around town looking for help wanted signs during the weeks leading up to summer break when I happened to pass by the docks. The summer before I worked at a little bait shop just down the road, so I was familiar with the marina and thought it would make for fun seasonal work. I pulled into the parking lot, wearing a nice collared shirt and khakis. I remember stepping out and crossing over the metal walkway, which led to the floating office just off the bank. 

I opened the door to meet an older bearded man in a dirtied t-shirt, leaned back in a worn out leather office chair behind an L-shaped wooden desk. He had a landline phone wedged between his shoulder and right ear and seemed to be growing impatient with the person on the other line. He looked up at me, but continued his phone call, while I waited politely on the other side of the desk. While he grumbled through his call I looked around the office. 

The pictures on the wall were all slanted and crooked from the rocking of the waves against the floating building. The carpet showed signs of high traffic around the door and boxes of old paperwork were stacked around different filing cabinets in the corner. It didn’t seem like much had changed in this room for some time, that included the man behind the desk. 

He finished his phone call and mumbled through his beard, “Can I help ya?” “I was curious if you needed any help for the summer?” I asked in a nervous, but professional tone. “Know anything about boats?” the old man asked. “A little, I have been on them most of my life.” I answered calmly. 

He handed me a sticky note and said “Write your name and phone number here. We’ll let you know if we need anything.” I did as he said and walked back out to my car. The whole exchange lasted no more than five minutes. It had to have been one of the simpler job interviews I have ever been a part of. 

A few weeks later I got a call from the Assistant Dockmaster who offered me the job without any additional questions. I started as soon as classes ended and was told that I would make $7.50/hour. I was pretty happy with that, given that the bait shop only paid $7.25 the summer before.  

(Working the gas dock at Creekwood Marina on Old Hickory Lake, Summer 2016)

I spent most of my time that summer picking up trash, pressure washing docks, and cleaning bathrooms. None of these were desirable tasks, but some days I would get to help with more interesting jobs, things like fixing water lines, replacing electrical boxes, and my favorite job - working the gas dock. The gas dock was nice, we would sit and listen to music, while the waves rocked us back and forth. We could earn tips for pumping gas, which was honestly pretty easy. A few ego friendly compliments about someone’s boat was always a sure way to get a few extra bucks in the pocket. 

Regardless of the task at hand, we had a motto about working on the docks, “Nothing simple is ever easy”.

Pressure wash B-Dock? That sounds simple enough, at least until you run out of gas after the first thirty yards. So, you run back to the shed to find all the fuel cans are empty. Now you need to drive to town for a quick fill-up, but the work truck won’t start. A few quick fixes to some alternator wiring and you are good to go. Once at the gas station the credit card reader at the pump rejects the work card, so you go inside to pay. Once back at the marina, you fill the tank on the pressure washer, but now your hose has sprung a leak. Back to the shed for a new hose, but it is nowhere to be found. Someone left it on E-dock. After all the running around you look up to find the sun setting and B-dock still covered in algae. 

Simple tasks often get complicated, making for hard work. I think it took me all summer to pressure wash B-dock. I learned quickly that there is truth in the saying, “Nothing simple is ever easy”. 

I took a liking to that motto over that summer and have carried it with me ever since. Even now I recognize a deep longing for simplicity in my life and I don’t just mean materialistic simplicity. While I do think I would be content with a comfy chair by a wood stove, beneath a tin roof on most days, I know that is an oversimplification of what life requires. 

At my core, I just want things to work as they should without over complicating due process or plans. For me, complexity is rarely a desirable path, even when it boasts of greater benefits and future ease. My spirit feels steady when things are simple.

I try to take a simple approach to most of life, hunting included. I appreciate a hunter who can hunt simply, one who doesn’t need much more than a trusted rifle and a comfortable seat to find enjoyment in the hunt. In a culture that is designed to sell, I respect a hunter who is successful with the bare minimum. 

I think most people correlate complexity and lots of activity with success. That might not always be the case. Buying new camo, experimenting with new gear, and scouting the woods 300 days a year has its benefits, but I believe it creates unrealistic expectations for most folks.

Weekends in a ladder stand with a 30-30, wearing blue jeans and a flannel shirt still kills deer. 

For me, simple hunting is fruitful hunting. 

Don’t over complicate it.

I believe that my love for simplicity is actually rooted in my love for the gospel. In our cultural moment, the simplicity and joy of the gospel is often washed out amidst theological debate, political uprisings, and the narcissistic need to be right. Where in scripture do we see this modeled? 

I think we would see more people come to Christ if we stopped making it so complicated to do so. The gospel should not come with heavy burdens when it is designed to lift weights. Christ presents his gospel simply, on purpose.

Glory be to our Savior, who in all his wonderful complexity and eternal sovereignty, saw fit to make his gospel message simple enough for a man of my stature to be able to understand and believe. The God of all creation, who established all wonders of math and science, bids me simply to come and be still. He invites us to taste and see how sweet his mercy is. 

However, when I see the extreme contrasts between his nature and mine I say with all those worried souls found in scripture, “what must I do to be saved?” Surely there must be something for me to do? What work must I perform to correct my errors?

Jesus offers all those facing this question a simple answer, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (John 6:29). There is nothing you must do to be saved, except believe in him, as a matter of fact there is nothing more you can do. Let us not complicate the invitation of our Lord.

His gospel is simple and for the simple. 

But…

We know that nothing simple is ever easy. 

It is not always easy to believe. It is not easy to walk his narrow road. It is not easy to love when the world says to hate. It is not easy to forgive or to confess or to be patient when waiting to do both. It is not easy to endure hardship or loss. It is not easy to bear each others’ burdens. It is not easy to count it all joy (James 1:2). 

Simple or not, there are days when I would rather things just be a bit easier, this I confess. Why does everything have to be so hard? So taxing? So draining? 

Brothers, has the Lord not called us to carry a cross? (Matthew 16:24-26)

It was not easy for Christ to carry his. It was not easy for him to die upon it either. To call it easy would be to diminish the significance of his atonement. Even there, as he hung, his capabilities knew no end, not even his ability to endure what you and I deserved. He suffered, bled, and exerted every last ounce of his humanity to absorb God’s wrath toward our sin. 

The Prophet Isaiah reminds us here…

Isaiah 53: 4-5

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

Let us not forsake the simple beauty of the gospel. Do not make it into something more complex than it was meant to be. We should awe at the simplicity of a God who can make his way known to a little child, while still marveling at his complexity, which shames man’s mere wisdom. 

He is a God bigger than we know, more loving than we can fathom, and far more accessible than a sinner can imagine. How unsearchable are his ways (Romans 11:33). 

Even after belief in his name he gives simple commands, “be holy for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). Nothing simple is ever easy, but He gives grace in this walk as well. When we stumble on the road of sanctification and cry, “who will save me from this body of death?” we can join with the Apostle Paul who says, “Thanks be to God, who saves me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25).

Praise be to the one who simplifies our salvation by coming to us when we could not make it to him. 

Nothing simple is ever easy, but his yoke is easy, his burden is light, and his way is simpler than we tend to think. 

Glory be to the God of all things both simple and complex!