The Start Matters
I used to run track in high school. I was not fast. My event was the 100 meter hurdles. Every time I got into those starting blocks my heart would pound. I would ask myself why in the world I felt the need to do this. It seemed absolutely ridiculous to me. I could leave right now. I could walk off the track, join the glee club and never feel this anxiety again. But, time after inexplicable time, I would find my lane next to young women who were taller and faster than I was. I would adjust my blocks, lock them, press my spikes into those small rubber and metal rectangles and wait for the gun to off. In those seconds just before the bang, my mind wasn’t really sure that my feet would do what they were told, as if my impulses had a switch and it had been broken off in the slow motion position. The completion of this particular race depended on whether or not I could clear hurdles. Clearing hurdles was a matter of timing. Timing starts at the start, as funny as that sounds. I needed my head to get me to hurdle number one in the right amount of steps and I’d be set for the rest of the race. One particular race, I remember well. My mind was wishing I was anywhere but the starting line counting steps to my first hurdle. Needless to say, when the gun went off my brain had not informed my feet about the plan. My timing was off. My right heel hit the first hurdle. I stutter-stepped through the entire race and of course came in dead last.
When a counselee comes to me and she brings a series of hurdles that need to be cleared, the start matters. Who is the head of this operation? Who will bring clarity to the process and hope to the race? This hurting or sinning person would probably just like to quit. It will be a “Who” not a “What” that will produce winning results in the her heart.
To fixate on finding a solution to the problems, or even to memorize verses about the problems, in the beginning, provides a stodgy start. Why am I so messed up? Why do people hurt me? How come I can’t change? These are earthbound questions, faltering footholds, not a sturdy place to begin (2 Timothy 3:5; Matthew 19:16-29). Even to address the possible heart attitudes immediately is to get wound around the problem. What are my motives? What was I thinking? What do I want and why do I want it? Me and myself and I have already wrestled to find answers and we are more confused than when we started (Jeremiah 17:9; Colossians 3:2).
May I suggest we begin here.
Great is the Lord
and greatly to be praised,
and his greatness is unsearchable (Psalm 145:3).
Don’t start with the finite. Start with the unsearchable. This person’s turmoil is heart-wrenching and devastating. She needs to know, from the very beginning that her heartache has an end to it. It is not unsearchable. God is. And so I encourage my counselee NOT to ask, “What should I do?”, at least not right away, but rather, “Who is God in my situation?”. The answer is, of course, that He is the God that He is in every situation. He is the unchangingly magnificent champion of every battle ever won (Psalm 98:1). He is the magnificent creator of all things from nothing (Genesis 1; Col. 1:16). He holds the mercy that wants to rescue you and all the power to perform that rescue (Psalm 103:4). He is the creator of every good desire and the satisfier of them all (Psalm 16:11; Psalm 145:16). He sees, He hears, He understands, He cares, He acts (Genesis 16:13; John 4; Psalm 66:19,20). He is the Father of lights and in His light we see light and by the knowledge of Him, our path is clear (James 1:17; Psalm 36: 9; Psalm 16:11). He is the fearsome God of the law (Deuteronomy 17:19). He is the omniscient God of every prophecy fulfilled (Luke 11:49; 2 Chronicles 6:14,15). He is the redeeming God of the Gospel of Christ which makes all things new (Revelation 21:5; 2 Corinthians 5:17). He lifts the head of the humble, forgives every sin, wipes every tear and grants eternal life (1 Peter 5:6,7; Revelation 21:2-4;Colossians 2:14; Romans 8:1). He is yours and you are His (Romans 8:9-11).
Now. Hurdle number one.