Then there's the absence of homework, early-morning dashes to school, and meetings of any shape or size. Not to mention no snow, ice, school delays or closings, bulky down coats, runny noses (well, except for allergies), bundling up just to take the dog for a short walk, numb fingers, frozen feet (a family trait), and darkness both in the early morning and in the early evening.
See, you've already forgotten all the "challenging" (aka horrible) things about winter! Stop complaining about the heat and humidity, for pete's sake, and embrace all the jam-packed goodness of summer!
But here's one difficulty I seem to struggle with more often in the summer than the winter--procrastination and laziness. Maybe you can chalk it up to the rest, relaxation, and delicious warmth of summer, but still, there are important priorities that need to be set and accomplished, projects that need to be tackled, and chores that need to be finished.
In other words, summer presents a bigger challenge to doing what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, and to the best that it can be done. I'd rather sleep in (like I did this morning) rather than suffer through a million push-ups and sit-ups in my tuesday morning exercise class. I'd rather veg out in front of the TV than sit down and read a great, but intellectually demanding book. I'd rather mindlessly read emails or flip through magazines than pull out my Bible, pray, repent, and focus intently on hearing from God in His Word. And I'd definitely rather eat chocolate cake with whipped cream than go to all the trouble of cooking a healthy meal that requires time, effort, and, yikes, self-control.
Sigh. Why is it so hard to do what we should be doing rather than weakly giving in to what we feel like doing?
Why does chocolate taste so much better than brussel sprouts?
Why do we savor complaining more than counting our blessings? Or gossiping more than focusing on the good in others?
Well, I recently read something by one of my favorite writers, Jon Bloom, that really convicted and encouraged me on this whole matter of procrastination, laziness, and giving in to our momentary feelings. Here's what Bloom wrote:
"The pattern in everything is this: the greater joys are obtained through struggle and difficulty and pain--things you must force yourself to do when you don't feel like it--while brief, unsatisfying, and often destructive joys are as inviting as couch cushions." (Can I hear a hearty "AMEN!")
Bloom goes on: "Why the struggle and difficulty and pain? Because God, in great mercy, is showing us everywhere, in things that are just shadows of heavenly realities, that there is a great reward for those who struggle through and persevere. (Heb.10:32-35) He is reminding us almost everywhere to walk by faith in a promised future and not by the sight of immediate gratification (2 Cor.5:7)
Understood this way, each thing we don't feel like doing, great or small, becomes an invitation from God to follow in the faithful footsteps of His Son, 'who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God' (Heb. 12:2)
Those who are spiritually blind only see futility in these struggles. But for those who have eyes to see, God has woven gospel hope right into the futility of creation (Rom.8:20-21). Each struggle to overcome becomes a pointer saying, 'Look ahead, past the struggle itself, past the temptation of the puny, vapor joys to the great sustained, substantial Joy set before you!'"
Yes, yes, yes! Did anybody else out there need to hear that today?
Don't we all sometimes get waylaid or mislead by the "puny, vapor joys" that do nothing but suck the energy, hope, and life out of us? And all the while, we are missing out on God's best for us--often because of simple laziness or reluctance to make the hard choice to do what God's calling us to do rather than giving in to what we feel like.
This reminded me of a picture I took a week ago in the mountains of a pair of birds who had built their nest on our porch.
Relentless. Immovable. The only constant outings were when one bird would swoop out to get food and then swoop back in again. And that food gathering was relentless as well. What a routine--go find food, swoop in, sit...go find food, swoop in, sit. Every day. Every night.
Don't you reckon those birds got mighty tired of that demanding, boring, exhausting routine? Didn't they want to stretch their wings and go visit some buddies? Or enjoy the scenery? Or maybe just do a little window-shopping? Hadn't they heard the old McDonald's theme song of "You deserve a break today..."
Apparently not. For as long as we were in the mountains, those birds were either gathering food or sitting faithfully on their nest. Like Horton the elephant..."faithful 100%."
What's our excuse?
If God enabled the birds...and the bees...and the ants...and the elephants to faithfully do what needs to be done, how much more we--His people made in His image and redeemed by His Son--should and must refuse to give in to weak-kneed emotion and instead do whatever hard, but gloriously rewarding work He's given us to do.
Bloom put it this way: "Don't let 'not feeling like it' reign as lord (Rom.6:12). It's not your master; you don't have to obey it...Instead, through this feeling see your Father pointing you to the reward He has planned for all who endure to the end (Mt.24:13). Transpose it from reluctance to a reminder that God is calling you not to indulgence but endurance."
YES again! It's back to good, old Hebrews 12:1-2: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which slings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of throne of God."
Even in summer, it's time for endurance rather than indulgence. Oh sure, a little indulgence every now and then is okay...but like those faithful birds and like our ever-faithful Savior, we need to keep our eyes on the prize. We need to ask God to enable us to fix our eyes on Jesus and finish our race...not haphazardly, not lazily, but triumphantly. For that's the path to true Joy--both now and in the glorious future.
Alrighty then...let's get to it!
To God--our Example and Enabler--be all the glory.
Amen!
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