No Pain, No Gain

I remember growing up playing sports. It always seemed that inevitably, when someone would start to complain, the coach would always say, "No pain, no gain." Which, was supposed to mean that if you ever wanted to get better you had to put up with a little discomfort along the way. I'm not sure that I was particularly motivated by this saying, but it is true.

If you want to grow you must change, and change always hurts. I know that in so many areas of life. When it comes to running, biking, and swimming, I'm trying to get back into shape after a 2009 that was filled with a series of freak injuries (not to mention the fact that we had our first child). And it's tough. Running four miles right now seems way too hard, at least, way to hard competitively. But I know that if I want to get back into the kind of shape that I enjoy, and if I really want to do that half-ironman triathlon I've been looking at, then I must be willing to endure the pain needed to change.

I also realize that this is true when it comes to relationships as well. Both relationships with people, and our relationship with God. Soon my wife and I will celebrate our 5th anniversary. I really have to say that our marriage has been great, but like any couple, there is still (and will always be) room for growth. We've been talking lately, and we both really want to grow, but that's easier said than done. For us to grow each of us is going to have to change some things, and that will hurt.

The same is true when it comes to our faith. It seems like we are constantly told that God can do all things - and that's true. But for some reason we think that the fact that God can do all things means that God will do all things. We also have a tendency to think that God's primary concern is to do good in "my" life. I find it interesting that when Jesus taught us to pray he taught us to pray that "God's will be done" even if that goes against our desires. So, what can happen when we put these two strains of thought together is that we begin to think that if we just pray real hard God will magically accomplish change in our lives while we sleep. However, in reality, God calls us to "work out" our salvation. God does do the miraculous in our live - he frees us from our sins, but God also expects us to respond to His grace in active ways. I suppose when I think of all of this, my prayer is that of Jeremiah:

"I know, Lord, that a person's life is not his own. No one is able to plan his own course. So correct me, Lord, but please be gentle."

Favorite Things

So the other day I fed my son before I put him to bed. When I finished feeding him he abruptly let out one of his burps that would make any frat guy proud, and then he fell asleep. Now, I would never have known before my son was born how wonderful it is to have your child sleeping on your shoulder. What makes it even better is that my son does not like to cuddle. He's too busy trying to explore the world around him. I guess he's just naturally inquisitive like his father. But those few minutes that he slept on my shoulder were absolutely wonderful. I can't tell you how much I just love to be with my son, even when were not doing anything.

That got me thinking how much God loves to be with us. We don't even have to be doing anything, simply being in his presence. God's love for you and me is far greater than my love for my son will ever be. Yet how many times do I put off time with God because I have too many other important things to do. I hope I would make it a priority to spend some time with God and not make Him long for those times as I long for those times with my son.

Bar B Que

So yesterday I had some bar-b-que for lunch. Prior to moving to Kansas City for seminary, I thought that bar-b-que was something you did in the backyard with a grill. Quickly, however I learned how wrong I was. Since that time I have loved bar-b-que, although moving away from Kansas City has made it difficult to find truly good bar-b-que. The thing about bar-b-que is that it takes a while to cook. My last year in seminary I waited tables at KC Masterpiece. At Masterpiece, all of our meat was slow smoked for over 18 hours. You can't just whip up some bar-b-que real quick. It doesn't happen.

There are so many things in life that work like bar-b-que. In spite of being surrounded by movies on demand and easy mac, much of what is truly good in life takes time. I'm a runner and 2009 was not a good year for me. I was plagued with some freak injuries and didn't have that great of a running year. Last fall I was actually getting my mileage back up again when I pulled a muscle while getting dressed for a Thanksgiving morning race. Then, two weeks later I slipped on some ice and landed hard on my knee. Thankfully, both of those injuries are now behind me and I'm pain free once again and building my mileage slowly. The thing about running though, is that like good bar-b-que, it takes time. It takes time to get back into the kind of race shape that I want to be in and there's no way to rush it. If I try to push myself too much I'll just get injured again. There are also those days when I really don't want to run and the real battle is just getting out the door.

I think our spiritual lives are not all that different from good bar-b-que and running. If we truly want to live for God and grow in our relationship with Him, it takes time. Far too often though, we get caught up thinking that God can just sort of exist in the background. Then, when life get's rough we start reading our Bibles and praying everyday and think it's going to in some way please God into doing what we want.

That way of thinking is wrong for so many reasons. Following Christ does not mean that life is going to go our way. Yes, Jesus said that he wants to give us life more abundantly, but he also promised us, "In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world." So whether we're Christians or not, we will face our share of troubles. Now, that being said, God does want to work in our lives and even bless us so that others can see his goodness. But when it comes to growing in our relationship with Jesus Christ it's like running and bar-b-que -- it takes time. All of a sudden reading your Bible or praying everyday is like doing a power-floss before going to the dentist. One time doesn't really make much of a difference, but, on the other hand, if it's a practice that you make a regular part of your life it makes all the difference in the world.

So I hope when it comes to the truly good things in life - relationships with my family, my friends, and most importantly God - I hope that I'll be patient enough ti give it time, and committed enough to be consistent.