The Honeymoon is Over

Over the last several weeks something has become abundantly clear to me. In anything there is a honeymoon period, and that eventually ends. This is true in relationships, business ventures, having kids, or launching a ministry.


Coming out to Colorado last year was the beginning of the honeymoon period for me. I loaded up the family in a covered wagon (metaphorically speaking) and headed out west. The only thing in front of me was hope, mountains, and the promise of what might be. It was exciting to think about all the amazing things that could happen. What would my practice look like? What would it be like to work with Training Ground and mentor men in the outdoors? What new places would the family and I get to discover? It was intoxicating and the momentum carried me along like a river. Then about 3 months ago the honeymoon was over.

My practice numbers took a hit and things frankly got tough. Instead of the mountains calling out to me, they started to mock me. The fears started to rush in. Can I do this? Was I stupid to come out here? If this doesn't work out what am I going to do? Am I the head of the Donner party rather than Daniel Boone?

The honeymoon always ends. Always. It did in my relationship with Sara. The first 6 months of our marriage we were so enamored with each other I would have told you I loved the way she chewed her food. Then reality set in and we had to start dealing with each other's baggage. Had we stopped there and said, okay this isn't going to work we wouldn't be together today.

In John 16:33 Jesus said "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." There is some hope here for when the honeymoon is over.

First, Jesus is saying that he knows that hardship is inevitable. I don't take nearly enough comfort as I should in the fact that God knows and understands what we deal with in our lives. Jesus knew and understood hardship. He was a man without a home, he was misunderstood by family, he had no steady paycheck, and he had men trying to kill him.

Secondly, I take from this that hardship doesn't necessarily mean you have done something wrong, or have taken a wrong turn on the path of life. Jesus was talking to the disciples in this passage. These were men who had followed him and left behind everything. These were men of faith who were doing what God had called them to do. Still, Jesus said they were going to run into problems. That is the reality of living in a broken world.

Finally, Jesus is saying that He trumps trouble. Whatever problems come at us God's determination to love us supersedes them all. This means that hardships are subordinate to God's mission to care for us.

Father, help me my unbelief. Give me the faith to trust that your love for me as a son is bigger than the trouble that is inveitable in this life.

Training Ground Fall 2009 Trip

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Hardship and Perseverance

What is the purpose of difficulty in life? I have been asking myself that question a lot these days. Very often when things get hard I can go to "God's asleep at the switch." If He really cared then why would he allow trouble and hardship into my life? It has brought me to wrestle with the verse in Romans 5:3-4, "but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope."

What I am starting to understand is that character and growth cannot happen without suffering. It is a lot like lifting weights. When you lift weights you are literally tearing your muscles. As the body repairs them they become stronger and larger. This doesn't happen unless they are stressed and pushed in ways that normal everyday life doesn't require.

Recently, I picked up the book Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell. Luttrell is a Navy Seal, and the book is his account of a tragic battle in the mountains of Afghanistan. He spends the first half of the book talking about his experience in the Navy's BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL) Training. This is a 3 month course that involves a 48 hour exercise called "hell week." As I read about the literal hell these men go through I couldn't help but wonder,"is it really necessary?" Why do these men have to go through such a brutal experience? The answer was simple to Marcus Luttrell, "if you can take Hell Week and beat it, you can do any damn thing in the world."

I am starting to understand that God uses difficulty to build us and prepare us just like BUD/S training prepares the Navy Seals to go into the toughest battles in the world. Without being faced with hardship I doubt many of us would naturally seek out growth. Even if we did it would not be to the level that hardship creates.

Hardship is evidence of God's constant commitment to father and train us. Train us for the things he has already planned for us. Train us for the battle that comes from living in a world ravaged by sin. Train us to have the courage to move into life situations that loom over us like a 20,000 ft. peak.

This is why the author of Hebrews commands us to rejoice when we experience God's discipline (chapter 12). Hardship and suffering is not proof of an absent or neglectful God. Rather it is preparation that proves we are truly loved.

The Pull of Status Quo

Yesterday I was driving home and I found myself longing for the status quo. Being a counselor and working for a ministry means you may not have the same paycheck every week, and you never know what to expect from one day to the next. The work is so rewarding, but the unknown can take a toll. Part of me, for a moment, longed to be back in a world of cubicles. A place where I can predict what is going to happen each day, and don't expect any surprises. Now I know that being in that world would kill my soul. Still, if I am honest part of me doesn't want the adventure that I am experiencing now because it requires so much trust in God.

Back in Exodus God's people struggled with the same thing. In chapter 14 they told Moses, "Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!"(EX 14:12). After reading that I am thinking they want to go back to slavery? But then I remember how scary it can be having to trust God. See back in Egypt it was miserable, but it was predictable. They knew when the water girl would come by, and they probably knew how to avoid the slavemaster's whip. There was no guess work, and there was no risk. But in the desert following God's call there was plenty of risk. They had to get up each morning and depend on God to come through for water, food, and direction. Frankly, it is scary depending on something besides your own knowledge and abilities.

The status quo is a safe place for most of us. It promises no risk, but it also provides no life. Following God's call feels dangerous. It means you have to put your trust in Someone other than yourself, and that is more difficult than most of us Christians care to admit.

Snowy Range Day 3 & 4

Snowy Range Day 2

Snowy Range Day 1