She’s brooding. This duck has found a safe corner in our courtyard. Nestled in the dark bark, using the down  from her abdomen, she has created a nest and then laid her eggs.  And now, she broods!  For the next 28 days she broods― leaving the nest for no more than two or three hours a day to get food and water, which means she sits on her eggs for 20 to 23 hours a day!

Each day when we check her progress, we are amazed how immoveable she is. Patiently providing the warmth the eggs need during this almost month long incubation.  She broods, but her brooding is different than the way we brood.  

Our brooding is defined in Webster’s as “pondering for a long time with worry or anxiety.” We brood about the challenges we face in life: unrealized dreams, unfulfilled promises, broken relationships, financial woes,  health issues. We ponder on them with worry and anxiety, instead of brooding on them with prayer.

Jesus even encourages us to:   

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. (Matt. 7:7-8)

Ask, seek, knock!  Instead of “brooding about” when God will answer a prayer, we need to “brood on” that request, persistently ”warming”  that petition with faith-filled, persistent prayer!

Even when days turn into months, even years, don’t forsake that place of prayer. Don’t give up!  “Brood on” that need, keep it “warm” with continual prayer and trust in God until He “hatches” the answer in His perfect timing.

He came bursting through the door barely able to get his words out.  All she could decipher at first were the words, “We’re leaving!”  Running from room to room, he scanned each one quickly determining what would be taken and what would be left behind.  She could barely keep up to him and had an even harder time comprehending what he was telling her.  She had never seen such joy and excitement on her husband’s face.  Finally her husband, Abraham, turned to her and said, “Sarah, I met God today – the living God.  He promised great blessings, unbelievable blessings.  And one of the most incredible blessings is that from us―from you and me― will come a great nation.  Do you know what that means?  It means God is promising that we will have a son.  A son!

This was the one thing in life that Sarah longed for.  In her culture, a woman’s worth was based on the ability to bear a son, an heir for her husband, and Sarah had long lived with the stigma of barrenness.  No matter what joys of life she experienced, they were always dampened by her desire for a child, a son. I think Sarah must have started pulling clothes out of drawers, emptying every closet.  Most likely she called the realtor and scheduled a yard sale.  Oh, how she wanted a child!

Yet in the midst of the excitement, at some point, she must have asked Abraham this question, “I’m willing to leave, but where are we going?  What’s the plan?”

His response: “God wants us to go to the land that he will show us.”

“So what did he show you?

“He didn’t show me.  He just said he would show me.”

Now imagine your reaction to that plan!  You’re leaving but you don’t know exactly where you’re going!

God knew where he was going to lead Abraham and Sarah.  It wasn’t as if God was making up the plan as they went along. He could have easily said to Abraham, “Leave your homeland and go to the land of Canaan.”  So why didn’t God give them the details up front.  Why not tell them exactly where they were going?  Why didn’t he put a detailed plan in their hand?

Because from the very beginning of their relationship with God, he was teaching them to rely on him for direction, to allow God to direct their steps.  He was teaching them that they didn’t need to have all the details upfront. What they needed was to engage in their relationship with God, continually drawing upon him for guidance, being obedient in the present as God led them to their future.

And the same is true for us today. God has a divine plan for each of us, yet he doesn’t provide us with all of the details of that plan in advance. Like with Abraham and Sarah, God wants us to engage in our relationship with him today― to learn to know his voice and be instructed by his wisdom. And, as we learn to be obedient in the present he, too, will lead us to an amazing future.

Last weekend Joe and I had the opportunity to ski with my daughter and her husband at Sugar Loaf Ski Resort in Maine. After a day of skiing the “green” (easy) and “blue” (intermediate) slopes, my daughter and I talked about our admiration for those who can handle with ease the “black diamond” and “double black diamond” runs. And we weren’t alone in our admiration.  She shared how a good friend of hers not only admired these skiers but wanted to become one as well―to ski “black diamonds” like a pro―so he decided to take a lesson and learn from a pro.

When he told the ski instructor about his “black diamond” goal, her response startled him.  Instead of practicing on the “black diamonds,” she took him to the “green” runs where they worked on perfecting the basic skills he had already learned. Her advice: practice on the easy slopes until the movements, the “feel,” become muscle memory―automatic!  It would be on “green” runs where he would master the skiing skills needed to navigate with confidence the most difficult slopes.

Certainly this is a lesson we can apply to living a life defined by our faith in Jesus―where the Christ-like qualities of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control are to be evident even on the most “difficult slopes” of life.

But how do we do that? The best place to start is during the daily, small moments of life. For instance, we can make the conscious choice to:

• Be patient, even we are stuck behind a car traveling 10 mph below the speed limit.
• Respond with a kind word, even when the salesperson has been rude.
• Hold back an angry response, even when your child has not.
• Follow through on a commitment, even when it becomes inconvenient.

If the characteristics of Christ (love, joy, peace, patience, etc.) are to be characteristic of us, we must learn to master them on the “easy slopes” of life.  We must put them into “into practice” on a daily basis, over and over again, so they become intuitive, enabling us to demonstrate with grace these same Christ-like qualities when life gets difficult, when we have no choice but to traverse the “black diamond,” even the “double black diamond” slopes of life.

An unexpected lesson learned from a day of skiing in Maine!

Grit!  It’s a word that almost sounds like what it means.

Determination.  Perseverance.

Enduring short term pain to achieve long-term gain.

In April 2013, Dr. Angela Duckworth gave a TED Talk on “grit.” In conducting her research to identify which character traits are the best predictors of whether a person will be successful academically or professionally, she discovered that a high IQ was not necessarily the leading indicator.  Whether her test subjects were successful teachers, doctors, Marines, or business people, the common factor wasn’t a high IQ, but instead what she termed “grit.”  These test subjects demonstrated determination and perseverance; they were willing to endure short term pain to achieve long-term gain; they stayed the course even when they faced great challenges or adversity.

As I listened to this TED Talk, I couldn’t help but reflect on how Jesus demonstrated great “grit.” To endure the Cross―to become our sin and pay the penalty of death that we owe because of sin―that took grit. We see great perseverance and determination in the Garden of Gethsemane, when he chose the Father’s will rather than his will. We see his willingness to endure the short term pain of the Cross to achieve the long-term, eternal gain of making a way of salvation for all of mankind. But how did he do it? Where did that “grittiness” come from?

He had the grit to endure the present pain of the Cross, because he kept his focus on the future joy of being reunited with God the Father in a place of honor.

Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. (Heb. 12:2b NLT)

He had the grit to stay the course, because he knew his death would secure for eternity the salvation of all who would believe in him as their Savior.  Jesus had “grit,” and it is a trait we are to possess as well. The Apostle Paul put it this way:

And let us run with perseverance (or let’s say “grit”) the race marked out for us. (Heb. 12:1 NIV)

How do we this?

Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we are in. Study how he did it.(Heb. 12:2 MSG)

Like Jesus, we must keep our focus on our eternal destination instead of our present location! The Apostle Paul would encourage us to keep our “eyes on the prize”―spending eternity in the presence of our Lord. For no matter the difficulties we may face in in the present, they are short-term in comparison to eternity.  Certainly when you are in a storm, it’s hard to be gritty. But Jesus has given us a gift, His Holy Spirit, to encourage and empower us so we can persevere, so we can be “gritty,” never losing sight of our future gain―eternity with our Savior.

Jesus’ ministry was gaining momentum.  Word of his powerful teaching and miraculous healings stirred the hearts of the people.  They followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, from Jerusalem, Judea and the Jordan region.  As a great crowd gathered, Jesus climbed up the side of the mountain, sat down and began to teach them.  They listened in amazement as he taught what we now call the Beatitudes―the attitudes that bring blessing into our lives.  He taught about loving our enemies, giving to the needy, and how we should store up treasures in heaven.  But toward the end of that sermon, Jesus provides us with a valuable instruction concerning prayer:

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matt. 7:7-8 NIV)

Jesus gives us permission, even encouragement to be persistent when we pray―to keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking. But why does the Father value persistence in our praying?  I certainly don’t have all the answers. But this relationship between asking and persistence does remind me of one of the favorite things my grandchildren love to do as Christmas approaches. With great anticipation they await the arrival of toy flyers in the mail. As they peruse each one, they circle at least two or three things on every page, certain that they want everything that has been circled. And then they begin asking. But what I notice as Christmas draws closer, their persistent requests are narrowed down to just a few key toys, revealing to their parents what they truly “need” to receive.

The same seems to be true with my asking. Persistence tends to filter out my needs from my wants, my requests that are critical from those that are not. Perhaps this aspect of persistence in prayer is more for our benefit than for His? Your thoughts?