Thank God for the Struggle

With Holy Week upon us, we’re nearing the end of Lent.

Perhaps your prayer time was not as prevalent (or fruitful) as you’d hoped. Perhaps the sacrifices you committed to were more difficult than you expected, let alone the challenge of actually keeping them.

Lent is a slow slog, filled with struggle.

Lent is hard.

We are accustomed to seeking comfort. We’d prefer to have good health, solid finances, happy relationships, and all of our vehicles and major appliances, you know, actually working.

If anything is off in any of these areas, we are uncomfortable, which makes us unhappy. We are convinced something is “wrong.” 

But…discomfort is not necessarily a sign that something is “wrong.” 

As Pope Benedict XVI reminds us, we were not made for comfort; we were made for greatness.

Greatness doesn’t come easy or cheap. 

In an interview, comedian Jerry Seinfeld shared that both of his parents were adopted and had difficult upbringings. He noted that although there was a lot of love in his home growing up, it wasn’t always easy. Looking back, he is grateful for the struggle, observing that usually, if the parents have a tough life, then the kids’ lives are too easy. People who have had difficult lives can overcompensate and give their children lives that are too easy, which can lead to disaster.

He encouraged parents to practice “benign neglect,” and warned against the 3 Poison P’s: Solving all their kids’ problems, giving them too much pleasure, and giving them too much praise. 

“Don’t try to make your kids’ childhood perfect,” he said. “Perfect is not a good place to be.”

Jerry said that early on, he knew he wanted to live a difficult life. He was always seeking out challenging situations, knowing it would lead to his success.

I’m no comedian, but I do know that testing out standup material in a small club in front of a drunken audience is not the epitome of comfort.

Jerry was not a glutton for punishment, however. His advice was to stay in the “bracket of struggle.” Not too much struggle, not too little. Try to move it up as high as you can.

Weightlifters and physical therapists know the truth well: The struggle is where the growth happens. They also know the importance of not overdoing it. Stretching too far beyond our capability can lead to injury.

Likewise, as our Spiritual Therapist, we can trust the Holy Spirit to keep us within the “bracket of struggle.”

That’s not to say we won’t feel the burn.

Discomfort is an opportunity to grow. 

Mother Angelica believed that suffering was a gift from God because it helped her grow in her faith, drew her closer to Jesus, and made her depend on Him.

I don’t know if I’ll ever get to the point where I’ll crave difficult experiences, but at least I can try to make the most of them when they come.

I can stop measuring God’s goodness by my comfort, and stop interpreting difficulty as abandonment.

Regardless of how your Lenten journey has gone, Holy Week is a good time to double our efforts, even beginning again if we’ve fallen short of our ideal.

When Jesus invites us to take up our cross and follow Him, we should not expect an easy path of comfort. But as we join Him in His struggle, He assures us He will be with us in ours.

Struggle is the soil for growth and new life in Christ.

Thank God for the opportunity to do hard things.

Thank God for the struggle.

Thank God for Lent.