From time to
time we read about machines that can enable us to lop off pounds simply by
standing on them as they shake us all about. Kind of like doing the
hokey-pokey, but with even less effort.
Fad diets
promise to make us svelte within days, cancelling out months and even years of
bad eating habits and poor lifestyle practices. “Take these pills.” “Eat this
menu.” “Try this regimen for just five days.” This, we’re promised, will free
us of inches and pounds without so much as breaking a sweat.
Sounds great,
especially at this time of year when temptations of lavish holiday meals, seasonal
treats, Christmas cookies and other high-taste, high-calorie offerings bombard our
senses through New Year’s Day. I know this all too well – my body still hasn’t
recovered from last year’s onslaught of Thanksgiving Day, a trip to Walt Disney
World, and Christmas, and already another year-end round of festivities has arrived.
Laying waste to your waistline isn’t a good thing!
Recently a sign
caught my eye that fits all of us hoping to survive the holidays without
turning into human replicas of the famed Goodyear blimp. It might bolster our determination
when we try to return to sane eating within the next few weeks. It said,
“Struggle Today, Strength Tomorrow.”
The problem is
most of us seem allergic to struggle. We like shortcuts, pain-free living,
anything but struggle and strain. We hate the adage, “No pain, no gain.”
Instead, we want the gain without the pain. Easy does it – the easier the
better. Overindulge? Sure. Overwork? No way.
But in reality,
what the sign stated is true. Struggle today often does lead to strength
tomorrow. Take, for example, the little caterpillar struggling to fashion a protective
cocoon, then at the right time working and straining to get out of it, transforming into a beautiful butterfly through this wondrous, strenuous process.
After
open-heart surgery in 2006, I resolved to go through the recommended rehab
program, which included healthier eating, taking prescribed medications, and
embarking in a regular exercise regimen several times a week. Nine years later
I’m still taking my meds faithfully and exercising 5-6 times a week. I’ve
slipped a bit on the eating part, but aim to get back on track there, too. The
point is, it hasn’t been easy. Every day I go to the rehab center thinking, “I
hate to exercise.” But at the end of the session, I honestly love to have exercised. And my overall physical
health has benefited. The struggle indeed has resulted in strength.
Apparently this
is why we’re often reminded in the Scriptures not to underestimate the value of
the struggle. The apostle Paul, no stranger to adversity of many kinds, wrote, “we also rejoice in our sufferings, because
we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and
character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out
his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us” (Romans
5:3-5).
In case we
missed it the first time, another apostle – James – revisits this idea in his
letter. “Consider it pure joy, my
brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the
testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work
so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James
1:2-4).
Many of us long
to possess strong, overcoming faith. These passages tell us that without it
being tested by the fires of struggle, our faith will never exhibit the
strength we would desire. Because faith, being “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews
11:1), becomes confirmed only when struggles give us no alternative other than
to exercise it. And sometimes over a long, arduous period of time.
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