Sometimes It Gets Ugly

In a lot of areas in life, things can look pretty messy before they actually look good. Think of landscaping a yard or remodeling a house. Crafts, cooking, and baking can look pretty chaotic and disastrous until the final product is achieved. We understand the concept of a work in progress. We accept the temporary mess as necessary for achieving the polished product.

The same is true of Christian growth. God purifies and sanctifies us in order to make us into beautiful masterpieces that bring glory to Him; His work, however, is progressive. Sometimes there are rather ugly-looking views along the way as we advance toward Christ-like maturity. We are not always adept at walking the right way, so sometimes we stumble awkwardly or even fall into the mud. We are on the right path and headed in the right direction, but we are not perfect.

Since starting this blog, I have been reminded often (it seems more often than normal) that I still have not achieved graceful elegance. This realization can have the tendency to be discouraging to any of us. It can be frustrating to see continued struggle in a certain area, renewed struggle with an old area, or awkward, halting attempts to learn the lessons God has for us. Rather than becoming discouraged, we need to think with wisdom rather than emotion.

The fact that something is challenging does not make it wrong. Difficulty is not the same as sin. Sometimes we equate the struggle to learn with spiritual failure. Let me give a practical example. Someone might consider himself a failure as a Christian because he has a hard time dealing with his mother’s death. That’s not a valid evaluation. That situation is hard by its very nature. It is a challenge and a struggle. The difficult circumstance, however, is intended and used by God to strengthen spiritual muscles and promote growth. Those results only come through challenge.

Let’s consider a different illustration. Imagine an Olympic figure skater. He probably started skating at the age of two. At first all he attempted was to stand on his feet, then to shuffle a little, and then to skate forward. He reached the point that he looked pretty good at the basics, and then he started adding things like skating backwards and doing figure eights. Over time he added some spinning, jumping, and stopping skills. Eventually, he started doing moves with funny names: axel, lutz, toe loop, and salchow. He learned butterfly jumps, camel spins, spread eagles, and death spirals. When he got really good, he started performing these moves in multiples, in combinations, and even with a partner. At each new stage and for each new skill, he fell down a lot. He got multiple bruises, maybe concussions, and possibly even broken bones. His initial attempts at each skill were awkward and shaky. Some skills took months to learn and years to master.

Would we look at that developing skater and call him a failure? When he stumbles on a triple lutz, do we consider it disaster? When he falls during a camel spin or drops his partner while practicing a lift, do we write him off? No, we recognize that he is learning and developing new skills. It may not always look pretty along the way, but he is improving and progressing. The stumbling and falling are actually signs of the skater’s quest for improvement, as he pushes himself past where he has been before. It is completely normal and expected that he will not master every new skill immediately.

It is the same with us as Christians. God is constantly challenging us to move higher and higher with Him. He introduces new challenges or multiple challenges or new combinations of challenges to stretch us. Our initial attempts are awkward, and it does take time to reach some mastery in each area. The fact that our responses sometimes look ugly does not mean we are failing; it means we are learning. I’m not excusing sin or saying there is no such thing as failure. It should be clear to us, however, that sometimes what we might be tempted to call failure is nothing more than the initial work needed to learn a new skill. We might fall down now just like we did ten years ago, but now we fall down while attempting a triple lutz; ten years ago we fell while simply trying to skate forward.

When we seem to struggle or feel unsteady on our feet, we must remember that the present difficulty is not the problem. The problem would be if we stop trying to learn and stop making attempts when the difficulty is placed before us. It is important to remember that God is the one doing the work, and He will see that it is done properly. If we return to the craft reference from the first paragraph, we can be reminded of God as a potter. He is making a vessel out of each of us. If necessary, He will crush the clay and start over, but He will keep working with us until we are what He wants us to be. It may look messy along the way, but in the end He will create something beautiful and pleasing to Him.

“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6 (NASB)