5.28.24
This week we are in Hebrews 12 where the author likens the Christian life to a race. And as much as our American perspective on life thinks this must be referring to winning that race - his primary point in this chapter is on training and preparation for that race. And as we’ve seen, the preparation is essential, because life is normally an agonizing struggle that can easily wear us out. And if we don’t understand the tools at our disposal and are not utilizing them to be adequately prepared for the race, we will be constantly wanting to “drop out” and take a “me” vacation along the way.
Yesterday we saw that our sufferings are a necessary part of that struggle. As much as we view our struggles as our enemy - as something to be taken away - God brings and allows them for the purpose of stripping away all the unnecessary junk that is weighing us down. And they teach us the need for being stretched - pushed - challenged as we attempt to run this race without giving up.
Today we see a second aspect of this suffering. And that is, that suffering is always a paradox. Just like when you’re in the gym, at the point of your greatest weakness is where you’re finally beginning to become strong. Muscles have to be pushed - stretched - and even sometimes torn a bit in order to grow and strengthen for the increased exertions that are to come. And so this introduces us to another aspect of Christian growth: that when we are weak, only then are we becoming strong.
Very few of us face the struggles of this life with a joyful anticipation of what it is building in us. We just want it to all go away. Because those struggles always make us feel weak - inept - inadequate for the task. But the point is: they’re supposed to! Because it’s only when we come to the end of ourselves, that our spiritual muscles are stretched to rest more fully on Jesus. Only as you begin to come to the end of your strength and wisdom are you able to be open to run into the arms of Jesus. And it takes struggles to do this.
Knowing these principles of spiritual exercise are essential for the Christian life. Because, as with most of life, expectations are everything. If you expect an easy blessed life because of your moral commitments, you will be rocked by the struggles of life. Because most of the agony of life’s struggles don’t come as a result of the struggle itself. Most of the pain comes from the surprise of it. “Why is this happening? Doesn’t God love me? Is he punishing me? I thought I was living right! Why is this happening to me?!”
If the sufferings of life cause you to freak out and lose it, it’s not because of the struggles. It’s because you had an inadequate theory of how life is supposed to go. And that theory wasn’t sufficient to embrace the realities of living in a broken world. Bad things happen to everybody in a broken world. And they don’t just come as a punishment for something we’ve done. God doesn’t protect his children from that suffering. Your obedience as a Christian doesn’t exempt you from life’s struggles.
And so if you’re a typical American who is functionally living for maximizing your comfort and pleasure and minimizing your pain, then suffering will destroy you - because it destroys your meaning in life. But if suffering reveals bad theories of life - or improper expectations for that life - then suffering becomes an opportunity to grow and learn and expand your definition of life’s meaning.