When The Going Gets Tough

Being involved in men's discipleship and accountability, I am often asked about 'dry periods' or the pervasive sense that "I'm not making any progress." Many men remark that when the 'came to the Lord' they seemed to be 'on fire' but over the course of time, the fire has waned. Having tasted the passion of love for Christ, they are eager to recover that passion but often times they are not willing to make the sacrifices necessary to resume or renew their spiritual growth. "It was so easy in the early days to feel and to see the difference that God was making in my life now... it's so hard" is a typical remark. To me, it sounds just like a human marriage!

In the early days of a new relationship, everything is bright and new. Inconveniences and sacrifices are willingly and eagerly overlooked for the sake of keeping the budding relationship alive. But over time, weariness sets in and those habits and proclivities that were once simply ignored now take on a gargantuan life of their own. Instead of seeing the person we love, we see only 'what they do' or 'do not do.'

I believe that our spiritual growth is similar but I think it also is subject to the 80/20 rule. Basically, 80% of our spiritual growth is accomplished with 20% of the effort. Let's face it, God is doing the work! All we have to do is believe, accept and love and our entire lives get turned around. But then, then we come to the remaining 20% of our spiritual maturation. Suddenly, it gets tough and that last 20% of development requires 80% of the effort. It's not that God has stopped doing His part, it's that He has done the majority of His part and the burden is now on us.

It is true that we still have to believe, accept and love but in addition to those easy things we also have to OBEY. In order to OBEY, we need to STUDY and PRACTICE. This might mean laying aside some habits that are hard to break. It might mean getting up early or staying up late. It might mean giving up a sports night for an accountability group or any number of other things that are 'hard' to us.

It has been my experience in spiritual development that God rolls away the 'big boulders' of sin to reveal 'big rocks' of sins. As the 'big rocks' are rolled away, stones are revealed. As I bend over to remove the stones, underneath I find pebbles. As I crawl on my hands and knees to collect pebbles I discover there is sand. Now I need a broom. I call this the ever-increasing granularity of understanding. Others think of this as layers of an onion. Either way, it illustrates the point that the path of sanctification, which is evidence of spiritual maturation, is neither easy nor quick.

I take comfort in knowing that this is not unique to me or to the men I serve. We need only to look at the writings of Paul to see that he too encountered such complaints and problems. My verse today is

Hebrews 6:12 (NIV)

¹² We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984

In this passage, Paul is exhorting the reader to persevere. He is challenging us to continue the struggle, to redouble our efforts, to withstand the desires of our flesh to rest and to not BE LAZY.

Instead, he admonishes us to imitate the examples before us. He speaks of course of all the 'characters' that are shown to us in scripture. He speaks of the 'hall of fame' that is recorded in Hebrews 11. And he reminds us that it is through faith and patience (endurance, perseverance, struggle and persistance) that we may claim the prize that has been shown to us, promised to us.

When a man tells me that he 'wants to feel the passion again' then I tell him to get serious about his devotional time. When a man tells me that he 'wants to see the presence of God in his life again' I tell him to get busy in service. When a man tells me that he 'wants to hear from God again' I tell him to get on his knees and pray. With almost no exception, the man who tells me these things has no devotional or study time, serves only the needs of himself and prays over his meals alone, if even that.

So, the adage is 'when the going gets tough, the tough get going.' Sure, it's a military recruiting slogan and sure it might be corny. But, it is no less true. If you think that being a Christian is not in many ways like serving in the military, then you aren't reading the same book as me. There's a war going on! It's raging in the heavenly realm, it rages in the world around us and it rages in our own heart. That battle is hard and fraught with danger. But our commander, our General, has already won the battle for us. All we need do is to finish the fight.

Salute,

Carl