I didn’t think picking up Cheerios was such a big deal.
Apparently, it was, at least to Timmy, who didn’t want to pick up the bag of Cheerios he’d dragged into his room for use with his Cheerios book.
“Please pick up the Cheerios and put them away,” I said.
“Aagghh!” Timmy yelled. “I’m mad! And angry! And shout-y! And I’m never going to clean up anything!”
“Oh, yes, you are,” I said firmly.
“I’m bad at cleaning up stuff,” Timmy grumbled in a last-ditch protest.
“That’s why you need practice,” I said.
There then ensued an hour-long battle over whether Timmy was or was not going to pick up the Cheerios. I told him he could sit in his room until he was willing to put the package back on the counter; he refused and kept escaping from his room; I kept putting him back.
The problem was eventually solved by Jessica, who went into Timmy’s room while I was otherwise occupied and convinced him to pick up the Cheerios. But that’s not the point.
The point is that I think that God sometimes has to do the same with us—that is, give us opportunities to practice things we’re not good at.
I don’t know why most struggles and trials happen. I don’t know why we sometimes have to keep dealing with the same thing over and over and over. But I bet that sometimes—on occasion—the reason God allows us to keep facing the same issues repeatedly is because we need practice in dealing with them.
Sometimes, it just takes us awhile to get things through our heads. Sometimes, we know in our heads how we ought to speak or think or act, but we’re not yet ready in our hearts to put those things into practice. And even when we are ready, and have the best of intentions, we still mess up.
We need practice.
It’s kind of like studying for a test or training for an athletic competition. We study, or put in the physical effort, beforehand, so that when the time of testing comes, we’re ready. Likewise, we need practice in dealing with certain issues so that when they arise, we can handle them right, or at least better than we did last time.
Not that practicing is fun. It’s not. Nobody likes struggling to hold back the words she really wants to say, or to have a good attitude when she wants to scream. Nobody wants trials or struggles. But we all want the ultimate result—being able to handle even negative situations without getting upset, and in the process, pleasing Christ.
So we’re going to have to practice. “Practice” may or may not be the purpose in our struggles. But as long as we have to struggle, let’s not waste those opportunities. Let’s use them as a way to help us progress toward the ultimate goal of being like Jesus.
God wastes nothing. And neither should we.
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. (NIV)