On The Way To The Mountain

I know it’s a simple thing but, growing up in South Africa, one of my chores when I got home from school each day was to prepare the vegetables my Mom was going to cook for dinner that night.

If we were having peas, it was my job to shell them.

Green beans: I had to string them, cutting off the stalks.

Squash: I had to halve them, scoop out the pulp and seeds, and peel them.

Potatoes: it was my job to peel them and dig out the eyes.

If I remember correctly, just the preparation of the ingredients for dinner took me about half an hour each day.

Quite a different story today on the dinner front.

If you are going to have vegetables, now they mostly come already prepared in a bag in the freezer. Throw them in the microwave and you’ve got dinner. Someone else has done the shelling, stringing, peeling, chopping for you.

Or, there’s an even more effortless method.

Just go to KFC and bring it home in a bucket, ready to eat and, with it, you get gravy.

Unfortunately, our desire for instant mashed potatoes and gravy has bled through into our spiritual lives.

We are sold instant salvation without the struggle of repentance.

We expect instant spiritual maturity without the struggle of discipleship.

We want health, wealth, and prosperity by just quoting a verse or repeating a cliche.

We want the abundant life without the struggle of a daily cross to carry.

We want the instant presence of the Lord without the struggle to draw near.

We want heaven, at the end of it all, without working out our salvation in fear and trembling.

What got me started on my little rant is a verse I ran into this morning in Romans 15. Paul has tried several times to get to Rome in his travels, but tells us that Satan has prevented him. Obviously a struggle for Paul.

He tells the Roman believers that he plans to go to Spain and will stop in Rome on his way there and encourage them. Little does he know that what lies ahead of him is his arrest in Jerusalem and two years in Herod’s prison in Caesarea…and, when he did get to Rome, it would be in chains.

We’re not sure he ever got to Spain.

That was typical of most of Paul’s life.

No wonder he asks the believers in Rome to “join in my struggle by praying for me.”

Struggle?

What struggle?

I thought the Christian life was supposed to be effortless! From victory to victory! Mountain top to mountain top!

There are victories and mountain tops, for sure!

But, let’s not act like there is something wrong with us or with God when we have to trudge through a valley in between the mountain tops.

And while I am at it…every valley isn’t the work of Satan.

Sometimes it’s just a valley and you and I have to do the “work” of our salvation by faith and draw near to God, even when we don’t feel like it…and it’s just putting one foot in front of the other.

Then the mountain tops, and the view from there, will be even more spectacular than you had imagined.

I know it’s not a good sales technique, but there is a struggle associated with following Christ. The sooner you get used to it, the less devastated you will be when it happens. Most of the time, it’s where the best growing takes place…on the way to your next mountain top.