On the edge – uncomfortable yet sustainable.

This is the message my cycling trainer has been using to describe the series I am currently doing. During one section of a ride, she shared that everyone pursues one of two things: safety or growth. She went on to explain that those who pursue safety choose comfort and the path of least resistance, that they are satisfied with short term gratification, and therefore rarely experience growth. However, those who choose to pursue growth live life on the edge, pushing themselves out of what feels safe and into sustainable discomfort, the kind of discomfort that says, “Hey, this kind of hurts or this feels risky, but it’s something I can move through.”. As she spoke, she added spiritual elements, and while her point was not specifically Bible-based, I found it to be no less true. Here’s the gist plus Biblical truth:

When we work out, what we are actually doing is breaking down muscle (no wonder it hurts!) and rebuilding it stronger and better than before.

In life, every challenge we face provides an opportunity to break us down mentally, emotionally, and spiritually so that we can build back stronger and better than before.

Jesus shares this truth in the message of the vine and the vinedresser found in John 15. In this famous passage of scripture, Jesus is the life-giving vine and God is the Vinedresser. The Vinedresser carefully tends the vine, propping up that which has fallen to the ground, taking away that which is not producing, pruning that which is producing so it will produce even more and even better fruit.

Sweet friend, when we are attached to the vine of Jesus Christ, when we abide in Him, we’ve no option but to grow.

The Vinedresser sees to it that we are well tended. He removes that within us which does not produce (idleness, bitterness, envy and the like) and He prunes that which is growing to make it grow stronger (hope, love, peace, joy and all good things).

Oh dear heart, the pruning may be painful and so is the removal of that which has run wild, but the Vinedresser’s timing is perfect and His methods always bring good results.

Just as I trust my cycling trainer to design programs that tear my muscles down and build them up better than before, how much more can I trust our holy and righteous God to do the same for my mind, my heart, and my spirit?!

Beloved, if you’re feeling weak, worn down, dried up, or overrun, isn’t it time to allow God to tear down whatever hinders your fruitfulness?

Isn’t it time to allow Him to do a little pruning and propping and build you up better and more fruitful than ever before?

Isn’t it time to start living in sustainable discomfort, walking on the very edge of this old world so that you push each day toward a closer walk with Jesus?