No Other Way

We are tempted to quit the most when we think we are stuck.

It’s a gut punch — when we think the thing we are longing for is stuck in the birth canal, perhaps even breached, possibly stillborn.  When it feels like it is too late to see the thing we love redeemed, it can be devastating.  What if what we want most is really not meant to be?

These are the things that shake us.  That keep us up at night.  That make us doubt the goodness of God (why would I have such a strong inclination for something that is not meant to be?).  Those considerations are very real.  But what if there is another way to see this?

Perhaps our version of that thing we are after is simply too small.  We are thinking of it only in the here and now only, with one version of success.  Someday we may be thankful to know it is much bigger (and perhaps more spiritual) than we imagined. Or, it could be the vision was there for a time to draw us into something new - to get us out of the place we were at.  To get us to move.

Sometimes a dream is what it takes to get us out of the house!

But the seeds of some dreams go deep.  Deep into our hearts.  Way down deep.  We can’t even think of our life without it (uprooting it would uproot ourselves).  Some dreams are woven into our identity.  Part of who we are.  Our calling.  Our destiny.  Our future.

To deny those dreams would be to deny the very flow of life within us, which leads only to a very dark place.  It is not that we are fated, or have no will.  But this gift inside us, the one that brings life, it was already in there.  We discover it.  We do not create it. But we are then gifted with the responsibility to care for it. 

And eventually to let it out.  All out!

That is the beautiful reciprocity of life.  And love.  We do not “have” to do it.  We want to do it.  We are better when we do it.  We discover that all the effort is worth it.  There is real value here.  Not because of outward accomplishments or progress; but because of the inward resilience to prosper.

Because if our dream really is from above, then we can expect every obstacle known to man to come our way.  All of them.  We can expect demons from the inside.  Monsters from the outside.  Distractions.  Temptations.  Breakdowns.  Evidence, for the novice, to turn back.

But for the weathered veteran, these are actually evidence we are on the right path - reminders we are closing in on our destination.  That we are almost home.  The top of the mountain is just a few miles ahead.  But remember, take note: we are most tempted to quit when closest to that breakthrough.

One foot in front of the other.  Trusting.  Believing.  Knowing with a knowledge that is not based on facts, or sight, or evidence.  But on trust.  On willingness to sacrifice.  On, perhaps, the greatest risk of all, giving our hearts.  Laying down our very life.   

There is no other way.