"We were created for greatness—for God himself; we were created to be filled by God. But our hearts are too small for the greatness to which they are destined. Our hearts must be stretched…”
-Pope Benedict XVI, 2007, Spe Salvi, para. 33
“No pain, no gain” stood as a popular weightlifting mantra during my teenage and young adult years.
“Championships are won in the off-season” was another oft-quoted phrase in the sporting world, encouraging players to work hard to develop skills and athleticism during the days, weeks, and months outside of the season of competition.
“Pain is temporary, pride is forever” also attempts to remind people going through the paces of any sort of training to endure through excruciation to enjoy the excitement of excellence.
Instability, confusion, doubt, and discomfort pave the pathways of progress.
Growth inevitability requires stretching, rebuilding, reinforcing, repairing, restoring.
Whether in sports, the arts, learning, relationships, fitness, or our faith, getting better, smarter, stronger, faster, kinder, more loving, more patient, more faithful, more forgiving, or more hopeful involves struggle.
The depths of defeat.
The soreness required to get stronger.
The frustration of fine tuning - practicing something over and over and over…
The heartache of losing someone you love.
The sacrifice of seeing others as more important than yourself.
The confusion caused by concepts just beyond our mental capacity.
The mystery of a God Who is closer to us than we are to ourselves yet so far beyond anything we can imagine.
In no way does this idolize pain. Nor does this invite ignoring abuse, neglect, irresponsibility, harm, or danger. There are many types of pain we should and must avoid and take action to keep ourselves and those we love safe from evil, harm, and illness.
But, if you find yourself in the in between stage, the passing through, the not yet, the middle - middle school, middle age, middle child, middle seat, middle just about anything - getting settled in a new job, new city, or new home or in the midst of graduate studies, or in one of the many stages of grief over the loss of a loved one, or battling a sickness, or trying to heal and restore a broken relationship, whatever your circumstances of being incomplete, trust in the slow work of God that is leading you to the greatness for which you were created.
Allow yourself to be stretched so that God can fill you with even more of Himself - more love, more strength, more compassion, more mercy, more justice, more forgiveness, more peace.
More of God, and less of me. Even when its painful.
For His greatness, not mine.
