Fixed vs Growth: The Challenge of Heavy Lifting

There is obvious value in struggle.  Our salvation is completed and secure in Christ, not to be added to by any human effort; but we are being developed and refined like gold, proven genuine and strengthened in our faith.  We can have a fixed mindset when it comes to our salvation in Christ; but a growth mindset about life on earth.  We are “now and not yet” people—we trust absolutely in the salvation we have in Christ, but recognize that we are still toiling through the daily daily-ness of life in a fallen world.  The Biblical word pictures used to describe this time of struggle are often ones of growth— plants preserved and sustained as fruitful in the hands of a master gardener—and ones of refinement— precious metals  subjected to intense conditions, with a goal of increasing their innate beauty, strength and value.  We grow and are refined.  Both analogies imply a basic value—the fruit-producing plant, the valuable metal—and intentional, programmatic development, a maximizing and multiplying.  We are intrinsically valuable:  God loves us with a love that inspired Him to sacrifice His son to reconcile us to Himself.  Like a sapling fruit tree or a chunk of unrefined gold, we are valuable.  We are not weeds or rocks.  But God is not content to let us grow wild or to be an unrefined and unrecognized block of dirty gold—He has plans for us, to prune us into fruitfulness and to refine us into gleaming gold.  With a little imagination, seeing ourselves as grapevine or gold, the process does not sound fun—it sounds painful, painstaking and time-consuming.  But seeing ourselves as grapevine to the master gardener, or as unrefined gold in the eyes of the master goldsmith and jeweler, we recognize the importance of the process and honor the One who sees us as worth so much effort.

There are many passages in scripture describing a painful process of growth and transformation for God’s children on earth.  Not to be read as recipes or instruction manuals for holiness, rather they give us insight into God’s plans for us.  From the beginning of creation, God in His omnipotence knew the cost:  creating beings with souls and free-will would lead to Calvary.  It was a price He chose to pay.  His plan of salvation did not result in the instantaneous removal of sinful flesh and the immediate transport of souls to glory.  We still are born, live and die in this veil of tears. There must be value to our painful struggles here on earth that we cannot even begin to fathom. 

Several years ago, an agnostic friend and I were embroiled in a discussion of a young brain cancer victim who had opted to end her own life with the help of her physicians.  My friend argued passionately that if there were a God, He would not ask that kind of suffering of people; and that we have a right to say “enough is enough” when suffering is overwhelming.  At the time, I was at a loss for words.  What is the right answer?  Does God enjoy watching us suffer?  We put injured animals out of their pain and suffering and have no problem seeing that as a humane answer.  Why are humans different?  Why can’t we control our destiny in a similar way, to reject suffering at a certain level?  

 I mulled over what I should have said for a long time, and eventually composed a better answer, one inspired both by scripture and by my friend’s background working closely with athletes.  If our God is just “some guy”, as He is to my friend, “some guy” who hands certain people really heavy weights and says “here, take this, run with it; it’ll be good for you”, then my friend’s response is pretty spot-on.  “Some guy” has no credibility, no reason, no communicated goal, in asking you to carry that burden.  Handing those weights back to that guy, or tossing those weights to the ground, sounds like a pretty reasonable response.  

But we don’t believe in “some guy”: we have a Master gardener, the grand and good architect of our souls, a Good Shepherd, our Friend, our Rabboni, our Teacher, Abba Father.  If this Coach hands us a weight and says “here, take this, run with it; it’ll be good for you; and I’ll help you carry it when it gets heavy, I’ll never let you fall and it will never be more of a burden than you are capable of carrying, no matter how it feels, because I am with you”—what is our response?  Our God is not just “some guy”:  He loved us enough to sacrifice His Son for our redemption, “will He not also…graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8: 32).  If we are given burdens to carry, we can trust that it is for our good, for His glory, and that He will never leave us to struggle alone.

This brings us backwards to Romans 5, to another chapter that starts with “therefore”, the key word reminding us to take content in context.  Chapter 4 recounts the story of Abraham who trusted God and obeyed Him out of faith.  Abraham’s faith was counted as righteousness, just Christ is our source of righteousness, apprehended by faith.  “Therefore”, we have peace with God and we rejoice both in the hope we have in Christ and also in our sufferings. 

1)      According to Romans 5: 2 through 4, what three things does suffering produce?  How have you seen this in your own life, or in the lives of others close to you?  Have you seen the opposite to be true, maybe in very young or very sheltered Christians?

2)      According to verses 5 through 8, what is our hope and why are we not disappointed?

3)      Read verses 9 through 11.  If we are reconciled to God in Christ, we are saved from God’s wrath.  How does this inform your view of the sufferings you experience?  

4)   Consider your perspective of God:  His authority in your life, His love and compassion for you, your ability to trust His motives and His plans,  His omnipotence and omniscience.  Do you sometimes, in some ways, view God as "some guy" making up rules and smiting random people?  Take time to prayerfully line up your understanding of God with how God has revealed Himself to the world, throughout His word and through the redeeming work of Christ.