The Grit We're Missing
OPENING PRAYER:
Holy Spirit, build in me the kind of faith that doesn't flinch when things get difficult. Teach me to see resistance not as a reason to retreat, but as an invitation to lean deeper into Your strength.
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4 (NIV)
James wrote this letter to Jewish Christians scattered by persecution, facing real hardship and suffering. His opening words sound almost absurd—consider it joy when you face trials? But James understood something profound: difficulty isn't the interruption of spiritual growth; it's the very soil in which deep faith takes root.
REFLECT:
Pastor Rodney Elliott used a vivid image from the message that stuck with me: grit. He said if you've ever held sandpaper, you know that the more grit it has, the more it can smooth and refine. Then he said something that made me uncomfortable: "We live in a soft world where Christians may be the softest because we tend to withdraw from the battles of the world. We withdraw from the private battles we face. We don't look at them like they are lions and bears preparing us for the battle that lays ahead."
That's a hard word, but it's true. The American church has largely become a culture of comfort-seekers. When a job gets difficult, we quit. When a relationship requires hard work, we walk away. When following Jesus costs us something, we look for an easier version of faith. But Rodney reminded us that David embraced the battles of every day. He didn't see shepherding as beneath him even though he'd been anointed king. He didn't avoid the lion or walk around the bear. He went through them because that's what faithfulness required. Rodney confessed his own tendency: when he encounters hard things and resistance, he tries to find the lazy boy in life. But those battles—especially the relational ones we avoid—are exactly what God uses to grow our integrity, our strength, our faith with real grit in it.
The uncomfortable truth is this: if we keep running from difficulty, we'll never be ready for the giant moments God has ahead of us. We might never face a nine-foot Goliath, but there are giant tasks God has assigned us to do. And we won't be prepared if we've spent our lives choosing ease over endurance.
APPLY:
Identify one situation you've been avoiding because it's uncomfortable. Maybe that’s a difficult conversation, a strained relationship, a challenge at work, a spiritual discipline that feels hard. This week, stop walking around it. Go through it. Engage the battle with prayer and courage, trusting that God is using it to build something in you.
I WILL STATEMENT:
I will be faithful in private, trusting God for tomorrow's battles.
CLOSING PRAYER:
Lord, I confess that I run from discomfort far too quickly. Forgive me for choosing ease over the growth You want to produce in me. Give me a faith with grit—one that doesn't quit when things get hard but leans into Your strength and trusts that You're building something I cannot yet see.
PRAYER REQUEST:
Share your prayer request and pray for others.