Point Of No Return

This week I have been potty training my youngest son. Not always the most favorite part of parenting, but a necessary thing that we all have to go through as parents and children. Henry is my fifth child. I can only vaguely remember this journey with the others as all my memories of my other children seem to run together. One thing I know for sure is that my patience level is much higher at this point in my life. Unfortunately for my other children, I am pretty sure their potty training instructor wasn’t as patient as the one Henry has gotten. 

The reason I am telling you this is because of a really cool realization that I had this week. At one point while I was changing Henry’s wet pants, he did not want to put on another pair of underwear. He was screaming and wanted a diaper instead. It was in this moment that the Lord showed me how this is also true in our spiritual journey. I am sure we have all had the experience of stepping out in faith on something new and different, which at first seemed to be fun and exciting. With enthusiasm we set out, turning in a different direction than we were previously headed. We felt so good about our decision. We were excited for a new challenge and a fresh start. This is how Henry started out this week. 

It doesn’t take long for the uncomfortableness to set in. Things start to get real when the journey begins to get hard. At this point we begin to get antsy and irritated by all the inconveniences and new struggles that arise. Then we eventually start to look back for our comforts… just like Henry looked back at the ease and comfort of just wearing his diaper. Our human nature loves comfort. It loves staying safe and keeping the peace. 

“The world offers you comfort, but you were not made for comfort, you were made for greatness.”

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

As this new journey for us gets harder and harder the further along we go, we begin to doubt and wonder if we will be able to actually see it through. In this, the Lord is inviting us to realize that we cannot do it alone. We are going to need help; in particular we are going to need his help. What we desire at this point is encouragement, but instead of seeking encouragement, some of us begin to throw a fit… much like Henry did this week. But to Henry’s and our defense, this fit is our way of expressing our frustration and the realization that we are weak. It is our way of expressing that this journey of change and transformation is not easy. 

It is good to remember that God can handle our fits and he wants us to be real and open with him. The only thing he doesn’t want is for us to give up hope or abandon the journey and turn back to our comforts. 

This week, as Henry was throwing his fit and pleading with me to go back to wearing diapers, I realized that he was at the point of no return. He was realizing that potty training was going to be too hard. He hadn’t seen a lot of success in his efforts and it wasn’t as fun of a journey as he had thought. Henry hit the point where he knew this was going to be much harder for him than he had thought; it was going to require him to do some hard work in order to get to the other side. 

“Christ did not promise an easy life. Those who desire comforts have dialed the wrong number. Rather, he shows us the way to great things, the good, towards an authentic human life.”

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

For our own spiritual journey, the interesting part of coming to the point of no return, is that when we get to this place, there is a scary realization that if we keep forging ahead, our lives will never be the same again. Maybe we have surrendered our hearts to Jesus, or maybe we’ve made a commitment to begin a new devotion, or maybe we have made a commitment to follow a teaching of the church that we had previously dismissed. Whatever journey we have set out on to grow closer to the Lord, it is good to understand that we will all come to this place. We will all find ourselves at the point of no return; where things get really tough, where we almost wish we hadn’t even set out on this journey at all, where we desire nothing more than to turn back and head back to our comfortable way of living. It is in this very moment that we can meet the Lord. This is where Jesus awaits us. He has been waiting there for us all along, just waiting for us to look up at him; to seek his face. It is in moments like this that we prove our character and strengthen our will. 

I write these words today to hopefully encourage you. If you find yourself at the point of no return, remember that Jesus waits for you there. Also, remember that you are nearing the other side of this struggle. Your path to freedom and newness of life is just around the next corner. Stay strong. Keep the faith. Trust in the Lord.

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