Hard and Purposeful Things

“Do hard things.” That's the title of a book sitting on the floor by my bed. It's a book I've never read. And yet the title itself speaks volumes to me.

I've been doing easy things. Some may argue. They'll say, "But you live in Africa! You're a missionary. That's not easy. You do hard things." But that which is hard for us is relative to our experience in hard things and our maturity in faith.

Only those who have lived in a similar way can truly and wholly relate to what I'm about to say, and that is this: it is possible to do what seems so unbelievably hard to so many, and yet fail miserably to do what is truly hard for yourself. I have days when I wish I was back in the U.S. for the sake of spending time with family and enjoying certain conveniences or cultural comforts. But the majority of the time I find that being in Africa (or theoretically any other country apart from my home country) is not a hard thing for me. And yet daily I awake to hard things that I am too frightened to recognize as my hard things. Daily I awake to hard things undone, procrastinated, unrecognized, and purposely ignored.

So much is said and implied about machismo in American media - television, movies, radio, music, magazines, and the like. And yet what is more stereotypically masculine than being a man who more than survives, but rather conquers? What is more "macho" than a man who scales the unscalable, mounts the insurmountable, moves the immovable, lifts the unliftable, or bears the unbearable? Nothing. Movies are made about macho men who go behind enemy lines, rescue their comrades in arms, and return victorious. These men do hard things! My mind quickly thinks of movies like Braveheart, Troy, 300, the Patriot, Gladiator, and others. Television shows are made about men who can lift things so heavy that they seem unliftable. Have you ever watched "The World's Strongest Man" competitions? These men are "real men", accomplishing unimaginable feats of strength. Legends are made about men who do the impossible and conquer the unconquerable. These are, in fact, the defining characteristics of machismo, or masculinity. So if "being a real man" is so important to our culture, why are there so few men who actually do hard things? I don’t mean the relatively purposeless and vein hard things - like exercise or athletics, but meaningfully hard!

What is hard for you or me may be different. In my younger days (though I'm not admitting to being old yet), I began competing in the Scottish Highland Games throughout California. When I first began I had absolutely no technique, but because of my natural size and strength, most things about those competitions came easily to me! But if someone half of my size was able to do the same things as me, I would have to say, "That man is doing hard things." The point is this: "hard things" are those things which are actually hard for each individual. So for me to do what is "hard" by generalization or by appearance does not necessarily make it a "hard thing" for me. Therefore, it's not truly a "hard thing". In fact, it most likely becomes a "pride thing" because I know that most others will think of it as a "hard thing" and be in awe of me for doing it, whilst all along I know it's not that hard!

There is also an element of meaningfulness at play here. In fact, let’s use the recently popularized phrase “purpose”. Why do something hard if there is no meaningful reason or result, no real purpose? If learning to speak Russian is very hard for me and therefore I choose to do this "hard thing", but I have no reason for it other than whimsy, pride, or hobby, then is this "hard thing" really meaningful? If I were doing so in order to give the gospel to a community of Russian-speaking people (within Russia or without), then this "hard thing" becomes a purposeful one. But if I do any "hard thing" just for the sake of it being hard, then I've only tested and strengthened my pride under the guise of "doing hard things".

So what do we see today in our world around us? Do we see men doing "hard things"? Yes, there are definitely some. Of those "hard things" being done, what percentage are actually hard for the one doing them? Of those "hard things" being done, what percentage are actually meaningful and purposeful? The answers to those questions are what concern me because they reveal a statistical truth that I fear may define me.

As said before, there are hard days when I wish I was somewhere else (not in Africa). But then again, of the many years I spent living in the U.S. there were many hard days where I wished I was somewhere else. The issue for me is not being in Africa or any other location, but simply in getting through a hard day. What is hard for me - and here is where my soul is laid bare for all to see and perhaps judge or point or mock - is doing and succeeding in some of the elementary principles of faith and life. For example, making the time to spend each morning in prayer, reading of the Word, and meditation upon it. Making the time to talk to each of my children every day about important things, spiritual things, fun things, boring things, needful things! Making the time to take care of basic husbandly and fatherly responsibilities that bless my family. These things, though they may not be hard for some, are distinctly difficult things for me. These are some of my "hard things".

Now I can focus a lot of energy on so many other tasks in life, even meaningful ones: teaching the Word, preaching, evangelizing, learning a new language for the sake of ministry, etc. But these are not hard things for me. Anyone can do and succeed at what is not hard for them! I can't lie. Though I get a bit stressed out over the responsibility at times, teaching the Word is not hard for me. God has enabled me and is faithful to use me in this area. And just because it is not hard for me does not mean that I should not do it. That's not the point at all. The point is that I (and maybe you, too) need to stop running to that which is easy in order to escape that which is hard. I need to stop sacrificing the important, meaningful, and hard things in my life for the sake of spending more time, money, and energy doing that which I already know that I can succeed in. Though both may have meaning and purpose, and they are both necessary, I cannot do only the meaningful things that are easier for me — and those exponentially — so that I can hope to avoid the hard things. This behavior must stop!

Let’s look at a few examples from Scripture.

Abraham. Here’s a guy who did HARD THINGS. Living in a land of pagan idol worshippers, he and his family among them, he heard the voice of God speak to him and instruct him to leave it all behind. He was told to “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” (Gen 12:1). “And he went out, not knowing where he was going.” (Heb 11:8). Now that’s a hard thing! I think we all recognize that and look to it as an example for ourselves. But we also see examples of doing one thing (that isn’t truly hard) instead of the meaningful, purposeful thing that is truly hard for us and should be done. Reading on in the twelfth chapter of Genesis, we see one very famous example: Abraham left the land promised to him and his offspring (later specified as his son, Isaac, and grandson, Jacob). There was a famine in the land and so he packed up and went down to Egypt, ignoring the fact that the land he was in was “the land” that God had called him out of Ur to go to by faith and receive. Sure, it was hard to pack up everything and go down to Egypt, but the truly “hard thing” would have been to trust God and remain in the land he had been called to, relying on God for provision. And as we read on further in this story, we see that Abraham decides to tell one convenient truth at the expense of the greater and most important truth. As he heads into Egypt with his beautiful wife, Sarah (who is technically his half-sister), he plots with her to tell the Pharaoh that she is his sister and not his wife. He feared that if it was known that they were husband and wife that he would be killed so that his lovely wife could be taken by the Egyptian king. It must have been a really hard thing, having told this half-truth, to watch his wife be taken away into the Pharaoh’s harem, but the purpose was a selfish one. The truly hard thing, the one that required the internal fortitude that only the strongest of faith can provide, and the one that had real meaning and purpose as a testimony to his God, was to tell the whole truth and trust God to take care of them.

Probably the best example, though, and one that touches upon some of the areas of my own failures, is that of King David. The writings tell us that David was a man of valor, who slew thousands of the enemy, and was even a giant-killer. But, as is normal and quite unique about the Holy Scriptures, we also read of David’s shortcomings as well. If you read the life story of David, from his youth to his death, you can’t help but notice a few rather glaring issues. Obviously, the affair with Bathsheeba is a notable trespass in his life’s record. But beyond that, if you pay attention to the writings, you’ll see that he failed miserably as a father. While David excelled at the things that we all think of as “hard things”, and admire him for it — slaying Goliath, leading the people into battle and conquering his foes, bringing stability and growth to his nation, leading the people into proper worship of their God — it was the “hard things” at home that were truly hard for David, and he never tended to them until it was too late. This is a classic example of avoiding the truly hard and purposeful things in life by focusing on other great and meaningful things that we simply find easier to do and accomplish.

So this is my challenge, to myself and any others willing to try it. Take an inventory of your actions. Are you, like me, exchanging the most challenging of purposeful things in your life for those you feel more comfortable about; those which cause less pain or irritation and require less self-sacrifice? Have you allowed yourself to be fooled by your own pride regarding the hard things you do, which aren’t really hard at all, but look hard to others and so give you the boost of self-worth you’re looking for outside of the Biblical truth of what you’re worth in God’s eyes? If so, don’t despair, as is often my first reaction. Just recognize the truth, confess it to God, and ask for His grace and the power of His Spirit to overcome the inactions of the past. Then do it! (Sorry to infringe, Nike, but you hit on something there). Don’t wait for God to act as the marionette operator of your life. It doesn’t work like that. You get up. You put your hands to the plow and move forward. Then you’ll find that it is He that is giving you the strength to do so. In fact, looking back upon it later, you’ll realize that it was He that put the desire in your heart to get up and make the change in the first place! “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” (Rom 11:36). And after you’ve begun, then continue to pray and take stock daily, looking for the fruit of the Spirit in your life in this area.

Oh yeah, and if you’re not to shy to do so, let me know how it goes.