The Easy Way Out
More and more I am realizing how much my human nature desires to “take the easy way out” in difficult situations. Various events recently have helped me see this tendency in myself. Just today Colby and I realized a certain mistake I had made that could have possibly cost us money if I did not work to fix the situation. I found myself thinking, “Oh, what the heck, let’s just lose out on a little bit of money. I don’t want to have to deal with this!” Now, I am appalled at what I thought, however when I was in the thick of things, all I knew was that I just didn’t want to deal with the stress. It was more important to me to feel better, and quickly, than it was to fix the situation.
I guess it goes along with an age-old mentality that I have had. Deep inside, I feel as if my life should be easy and work out exactly how I want it to without causing me any stress or hardship. Thus, when stressful things come up, my outlook is set on how I can rid myself of the discomfort, rather than determining what is best for the situation. It takes hard work to not take the easy way out and it’s also not fun.
Consider Hebrews 12:11, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” Lately we have encountered other situations like the one above. We have committed to working closely with our church in partnership development. It has been a good paradigm shift for us and the church as a whole, however since it is new it has not been easy. There have been times when Colby and I have looked at each other and wondered if it was worth the effort that we foresee ourselves putting in. We have come to the conclusion that this type of partnership development is worth the effort we have and will put in. It may not be the easiest way to do our support raising, but we feel it will be the most beneficial to everyone involved. Some of the best things in life are not easy, but they are well-worth the effort.