The Men of Iron Minute
by Chad Zueck | Director of Content Creation
Potholes Filled with Grace
Wind blowing, windows down, and the sound of my off-road tires eating open roads is something I have always enjoyed. The open road offers a bit of springtime delight. The other day I was relishing in the open road near my home and hit a pothole. This wasn’t a tiny pothole. It was huge. I have oversized tires and a lift kit on the truck, and it bottomed out the shocks and just about threw me into the ditch. It was shocking and humiliating. I have hit this same pothole so many times, and every time I am in the area, I think to myself, “Now look out for the hole, and then, BOOM.” As I type this, I can see the silliness in the whole thing. Why does it bother me to hit the hole? What do I expect of myself? Why can’t I let myself off the hook just once? Further, why do I say bad things about myself after hitting the hole? I am guessing that I am not the only guy who is hard on himself when failing.
Walt Whitman was dead wrong when he wrote, “God is a mean-spirited, pugnacious bully bent on revenge against His children for failing to live up to his impossible standards.” But, if a man is unnecessarily hard on himself, he lives as if it’s true. What is true is God’s grace is sufficient to meet all of our needs, not as a taskmaster but as a trampoline keeping us from self-loathing and self-harm. The Father says this to underachieving, highly expectant men of God, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
The potholes of life knock off the sticky pride while allowing for God’s strength and grace to keep us moving forward.
The worst offender to me is myself. Fact.
I fail myself again.
You will fail yourself.
Be kind, anyway.