Struggles: Part 1

The holidays are over. I guess it was official on January 2. That is, if you consider New Year’s Day part of the holidays. And I don’t know anyone that thinks they keep going that long into January. Does anyone decorate for Presidents’ Day? I didn’t think so.

But with the end of the holidays comes the beginning of chores, responsibilities, a return to work and school, and those first credit card bills start to roll in. Here’s something else I think comes to mind – struggles.

The holidays, and especially Christmas, are all about joy. Life on earth will be filled with joy, but also struggles. And like Christmas time giving way to the New Year, the harsh winter, and the unrelenting calendar, so too does our joy encounter our struggles.

We all have struggles in life. You can’t avoid them. You can try to fight them. We all want to avoid struggles because of the pain involved. But I’m convinced we would be better to embrace our struggles, see if they can help shape us into something better, than to resist them.

We all have struggles, but we encounter them in different ways. Some of us just struggle waking up and getting out of bed in the morning (I’ve got my own hand raised on this one). Some of us struggle with heartburn, while others struggle with heartbreak. Some of us struggle with decisions, while others struggle with depression. Some of us struggle at work, while others struggle to find work. Some of us struggle with being a single parent or a lonely child. Some of us struggle with a diagnosis or an addiction. Some of us are struggling right now.

One of the guiding values of this church and the way I live my life is this: “Real people, real problems, real questions.” As I wrestled through that value I considered putting “real answers.” But I never want to assume that I or anyone else here has all the answers. Some questions are more powerful than answers, honestly. Because sometimes we have the answers and sometimes we don’t. But it’s where our questions can lead us that matters.

When we face struggles, we want ready-made answers. But they rarely come. Our struggles can actually be embarrassing. We don’t want others knowing about them. What would the person sitting next to us at church think if we had these doubts, these private problems, these issues in our past.

But our struggles have the power to shape us – in positive ways just as much as in negative. We can either fight our struggles, hide from them, or let them push us towards a good life. We can either be embarrassed by them, or embrace them. What will you do?

Here’s the key. Be present with your struggle. Instead of denying those emotions, be real about how you’re feeling. Have an open heart to all your emotions in an accepting manner. And that will position you in the midst of your struggles to produce perseverance and character.

Here at Northbrook hurch over the next few weeks what I am going to attempt to do is help us live a better story because of our struggles, not in spite of them. I want us to take a deep dive into what it means to struggle, how struggles help us grow, how we can help each other in our struggles, and where our struggles can lead us. I hope you’ll come along with us.