Six questions: Second Question

I follow YOU. Doesn’t that count? Doesn’t that sacrifice matter? Doesn’t that choice matter? I’ve done my part, why aren’t you doing yours?

A review for the movie Independence Day described the American spirit as being at its strongest “when there is a clear reason to protect what we value most.

Difficult times— whatever the context— force people to come to a crossroads. You either rise to the challenge and bring your “A” game or you try and sit it out. Even with your best efforts, you may not be victorious. But you don’t even have the chance of victory if you shy away from the action.

All that’s to say that difficulties can create the training ground for the beliefs and practices we want to define us. A dancer learns the movements of a ballet in the relative quiet. The ballet is born though in the joints and muscles of continual, aching practice.

To want obedience without actually having to make a choice to do so isn’t really obedience. Obedience comes at a cost. (2 Sam. 24:24) Difficulties bring an opportunity to practice living what we want to become.

“Discipleship without sacrifice breeds comfortable Christianity barely distinguishable in its mediocrity from the rest of the world. The Cross is both the test and the destiny of a follower of Christ.” (Brennan Manning)

There’s an underlying question here though. If you’ve got confidence in the steps that led you to the situation you find yourself in, the issue is no longer one of geography, but one of theology and the supremacy of a God who does not immediately, visibly reward seeking Him, when there is an apparent disconnect between obedience and fulfillment.

It is in this “No Man’s Land” that the battle of faith is often fought.

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.” (Hebrews 11:1)

You are in the middle of a story. All the saints and prophets, broken people and sinful patriarchs of old point the way, crying out for a better city.

“All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.” (Hebrews 11:13)

Difficulties force us to make a decision as to whether we’ll believe if and when we can’t even remember why we started in the first place. This starts as a personal choice to believe.

“My Deliverer is coming, My Deliverer is standing by. I will never doubt his promise, though I doubt my heart – I doubt my eyes.” (Rich Mullins)

The weary fighter lifts his head one more time. His balance is off, and he struggles to regain his footing. He stands, plants his feet and squares his shoulders. A broken whisper escapes, “I’m still in this.”

It’s lived out in community.

“When you can’t run, you crawl, and when you can’t do that anymore, you find someone to carry you.” (Firefly)