A friend of mine sent me this quote from Bruce Epperly’s book, “The Mystic within You.” At first read I was like, “That’s a great quote, thanks for sharing,” but as days rolled along I started to notice how often I am resistant.
Now I think there are a few kinds of resistance. One is like the Spirit of Conviction, a pull/tug that is a reminder you probably aren’t supposed to be stepping in that certain direction. Then there is one that’s more like a defensive posture, a resistance because you simply know things are not as they should be and you refuse to bend to injustice or compromise your integrity, so you resist. But then there is this other one, and pretty much the type of resistance I typically engage in most of the days, with most of the things. It’s the whiny, critical, judgey, meh, or “we’ll see”-attitude that emerges way more often than I would like to admit. It some times starts off as a “glass half-empty” attitude but then I’ve noticed it can evolve into a total resistance. And I’ve also noticed how often this is my starting point. I start out resistant. I start out skeptical. I start out meh. And in some ways I think this is just how I am made, and it’s not entirely terrible, it’s produced some critical thinking and value in feedback and critique, but it’s how I can easily stay there that I want to allow God to work out of me.
What starts as a head-tilt becomes resistant. Where a healthy concern may kick things off, resistance can be what lingers. And when I think of how opposing resistance and love can be I am convicted. And, when I consider how little resistance Christ showed through the cross, I am reminded to check my heart.
What did you not want to do today, and why?
What meeting did you not want to attend?
What task have you been putting off?
What people have you per-determined impossible to change?
Where are the rubs, the things that get on your nerves or grate against your Spirit? Find them, and check them. Check your judgements, your assumptions and the things you have written off. Is there space for you to meet those thoughts, people or groups with love rather than resistance?
Taking a moment to examine the tension and staying in that moment long enough to allow God to speak over your heart can transform the ordinary. Next time you are resistant, have the courage to ask why, and without necessarily demanding a change of opinion, you can almost always step closer to what love might ask in that moment.
Tell me, what have you been most resistant to lately?