[Excerpt Beyond Pretend: A Sheep’s Guide to the Universe!]
Be willing to stumble.
Sometimes our pride …
Sometimes our pride keeps us from following Christ through the difficult territory. We fall and he picks us up, but we don’t want to be seen with our clothes still dirty and torn, our lip cut, and maybe a few tears we haven’t brushed away yet. Sometimes we fall because we sin, but sometimes we fall because of the hate of the enemy. Job was God’s pick-of-the-litter and cream of the crop, and God allowed Satan to beat him up and embarrass him in front of the whole countryside. He stumbled, screamed and threw a fit, but he always directed his thoughts toward God. Through all his anger and distress, he always moved in the direction of God.
“This is what we believe …”
But for many of us our perspective of victory in the Christian life has no biblical roots. We accept only what we signed on for, upward and onward and well-played scenarios in our minds where we assume the roles of Christian super-heroes praying our way past the fiery darts of the enemy. We didn’t sign up for the ugly stuff, not so much into following Jesus if we can’t look good doing it. We have yet to learn that style points are overrated and pale in comparison to sheer faithfulness and determination to please our God. We haven’t learned the value of stumbling, even crawling, in Jesus’ name.
Think about it.
How did Jesus himself do with style points? Beaten, bloodied and humiliated he made his way through the streets of Jerusalem to the shame of a cross.
A lesson from Felix Mendelssohn in stumbling.
I was listening to WILL our local NPR station one day and they were interviewing someone discussing Felix Mendelssohn and his struggle in writing his Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64. The account given was that he felt as if he were “fumbling” along. They went on to discuss how insecure and unsure he was. But what was the result of his fumbling, his insecurity and unsurety? One of the most popular and most frequently performed violin concertos of all time. So if you can’t march and you can’t run, then stumble forward in Jesus’ name. You may have to change your clothes as we’ve seen that pride doesn’t wear so well in these situations. But if you throw on some humility and work through the tears and pain, you will taste the excellent fruit of righteousness.
Grinding it out.
In sports they talk about the athletes who know how to “grind it out,” do the grunt work, because they know the reward. Sometimes our sky-high inspiration yields great work, but often we just grind and plod. We press toward the smile of God and provide a perfect opportunity for Christ to show his strength.
- And he said to me, My grace is enough for you, for my power is made complete in what is feeble. Most gladly, then, will I take pride in my feeble body, so that the power of Christ may be on me. So I take pleasure in being feeble, in unkind words, in needs, in cruel attacks, in troubles, on account of Christ: for when I am feeble, then am I strong (2 Corinthians 12:9-10 BBE).
Proud wimps in Jesus name …
Dirty, frayed and frazzled we grind it out. We continue, not because of what we see, but because of what we believe, what God keeps telling us is true and right, and then one bright day we celebrate with angels who are so happy that we faithfully served their King in ways they could not.
- But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly (Hebrews 12:22-23 NIV).
Hero for a moment:
One snowy winter day as I traveled into Chicago to work, I came up on a young woman in a car who had tried to make a U-turn across the concrete median and was now stuck in the snow on the curb. Not sure if I could help or not, I stopped my car and got out, and to my surprise pushed her enough to help her over the curb and on her way. Then the really cool part happened. I thought I heard people cheering and looking up I saw several guys hanging out of the windows of a factory on the north side of the street cheering me on like I had scored the winning touchdown at a Bears game.
Things that call to the hearts of the angels …
That was so cool. I was their hero if only for a moment. I did what their hearts were calling them to do in rescuing their damsel in distress. As believers in Jesus Christ, we are called to do things that call to the hearts of angels but in God’s sovereignty are assigned to mere humans. And maybe idle speculation, but I have to wonder if I might be surprised in heaven one day. What? No, those angels couldn’t be cheering for me, could they? Why would these beautiful, powerful beings be excited about something I had done? Because as weak and frail as I was, my service to Jesus Christ answered the call of their hearts. By the way, that will be even cooler than the guys at the factory cheering for me. Smile.
- His purpose was that through the church all the rulers and powers in the heavenly world will now know God’s wisdom, which has so many forms (Ephesians 3:10 NCV).
Victory is moving in the direction of God no matter the style points. We must understand that God honors our faithful walk even if it is is only inches at a time.
