When The Going Gets Tough

Once upon a time I was a philatelist. That's a fancy name for a stamp collector. It all started innocently enough. I went to the five and dime store in town and bought a shiny new book that told me all about the postage stamps someone my age should own.

Whenever I got enough money I rode my bike ten blocks to the almost sacred shrine of the Ben Franklin store. I would toss my collection of coins on the counter and receive a small bag filled with stamps. They were all used and had cancellation marks on them, but at the time I didn't know they were less valuable. These stamps had been all over the country, and I was impressed. I was on a scavenger hunt and I needed to find every stamp in my book. I needed a complete collection. I filled many pages and had a truly impressive accumulation of leftover stamps.

Every few weeks I would enter the store with the bell over the door, walk past the mechanical horse that cost a dime to ride, up a small incline, past the goldfish, and there – just next to the marbles – more stamp collecting goodness.

The ladies who waited on me knew me by name. I'd like to think it was because I was such an ardent collector, but mostly it was because I grew up in a small town and pretty much everybody knew everybody else. Still I'd walk out with my stamps in an attempt to complete my collection.

I never did.

There's nothing that will do more to stomp on your dreams than roadblocks. I remember the first time I came home with my stamps and there were no new stamps to fill in the remaining blanks. I had tossed a couple of silver colored coins and a couple of coppers on the counter, ridden my bike to and from the store, and for what? Nothing.

It didn't take too many similar experiences to conclude that stamp collecting was a waste of my time. I transferred my energy to the skill required to make clackers work, watch the ebb and flow of my sister's lava lamp, explore the river, and read books that never once talked about stamp collecting.

When the going gets tough the average Joe goes walking. I did. God's Word says something about that, “Let’s not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don’t give up, or quit. Right now, therefore, every time we get the chance, let us work for the benefit of all, starting with the people closest to us in the community of faith.“ Galatians 6:9-10 (MSG)

People have always been distracted by what's new and shiny. We can easily get off track. We are a people who can easily abandon a project when it's no longer easy or fun. Our stick-to-it-iveness can have less stick than a sticky note.

Maybe it really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things whether or not I finished my stamp collecting, but there are plenty of things God wants me to stick to – even when it's hard – even when I see no benefit – even when I want to give up.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.” Hebrews 12:1 (NLT)