Bitter For A Moment, Better For A Lifetime:

Insight 65 | Harnessing Inner Turtle Power

The saying “everything has a price” could not be more accurate; life isn’t about avoiding the hard, but choosing which hard you're going to tackle. 

In the gospel of John, Jesus himself confirms this, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” 

So, is it that much of a surprise that when you come to God asking for patience or stronger faith, He delivers you long waiting lines, horrendous traffic, or even silence? 

See, God can place, replace, or displace anything in our lives with what he wills and knows as better, so as a result, we must be careful what we pray for, learn to pray with our hands open, and always remember great things often come at a great cost.

To illustrate this point, I'd like to draw a connection to the famed brothers, the heroes in a half shell themselves, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Leonardo. Each of these notorious adolescent reptiles was named after a famous Renaissance painter, but their connection to the philosophical realm doesn't end there.

Without getting too into the weeds about the turtles' origins, what's essential to know is that this set of four was raised by a wise teacher named Master Splinter. In his profound knowledge and foresight, he directly counter-opposed each area in which the turtles struggled, with the weapon he assigned to them, to become what Master Splinter Knew they could always be: heroes. 

Raphael, mad and aggressive, was given the Sais, a defensive weapon meant to subdue and neutralize harm, not kill or execute. Micheal Angelo, crazy and rambunctious, was given nunchucks, a device that takes precision and focus. Donatello, the savviest and most technologically gifted of the bale (group of turtles), was given the bō staff, the simplest weapon, forcing him to be creative, decisive, and intentional with what many would have considered basic and lacking. Lastly, Leonardo, the most ethical and upstanding member, was given the deadliest and sharpest tool of them all: the katanas, blades like no other. In the era of Japanese feudal society, these items not only served as a status symbol and an honorary indication of samurai designation, but they were also effective close-range fighting weapons. But this decision too was intentional; this close combat weapon brought Leonardo to wrestle with the need to distinguish between times when it was okay to lean in and fight, or sheath the blade, draw the line, and lead in a different way. 

This is the warrior's journey, a literary trope in which a character MUST first face trials, and THEN overcome them as steps along the path to self-development and unlocking their fullest potential. It takes getting up close with what you want to improve at by wrestling with the very thing you think you're unequipped to handle. It’s defined by facing personal weaknesses to reach greatness.

By now, many of us have likely realized that each mountain moment in our lives has a valley before it and after it, and that every great thing was once a dark and complex land we had to traverse.

See, we yearn for love, so we get some nice time to be alone. We long for confidence and are forced to anchor our identity in things that never fade. With all our souls, we desire things will work out, but God looks us over and says, “We still have some things that we need to work out before we worry about any of the rest.”

This always makes me laugh; it reminds me that God has a tremendous sense of humor. But beyond this, it has also made me realize that everything we think we “lose” is really just creating space for what God wants to do in our lives. I could not tell you the number of times I have found myself irritated when I receive just what I ask for. It’s an irony that is hard to explain, but we have all lived through. 

Maybe this trial is exactly what you’ve always wanted, in the form of what you never wanted to do! So, what do we do about it? If we  “know” this is all a part of the path, how do we work on accepting it, welcoming it, and growing amidst the difficult parts?

Simple: First, we become intentional with what we pray for, and secondly, we learn to pray with our hands open in order to allow God the room he desires to work.

The first point is quite self-explanatory: if you don't want the smoke, get out of the kitchen. However, the second point is one I'd like to dwell on for a moment, and it's regarding the posture our spirits and souls take when we hand over our list of wants, needs, and stress to God. It's a lesson I learned from a beloved mentor of mine, Pastor Bill Schott. In a moment in which I was wrestling through a traumatic period of love loss and grief.  He wisely told me, “You're holding on to it all too tightly”. When you pray like that, it's like you're praying with your hands clenched in tight fists.”

If God decides he wants to add something beautiful or remove something no longer relevant from our lives, it's going to take some finger-prying and sharp pain for us to release whatever it is we’re holding onto so tightly. But instead, if we pray with a posture of submission, it's as if we're coming before the Lord with open hands. A stance in which he can place, replace, or displace anything in your life with what he wills and knows as better.

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See, we all want to be warriors for the Lord, but we often struggle to come to terms with what it means to fight the good fight. We want to be courageous for the Lord, but don’t want to get close enough to reach the point of needing to trust Him. Here’s the beauty: if we’re never brought to the edge of all we can take, if we never dance on the precipice of ourselves and question whether we can really handle it, we might just become complacent in life and forget how much we need God.

Without the Lord's constant help, we are nothing. In a way, trials in this life serve as our unwavering reminder of our total need for Him. They serve almost like medicine; it may not taste the best, but it's what we need to heal and recover, for when we welcome what feels bitter in the moment, we’re guaranteeing an unparalleled betterness for our lifetime.

So harness your inner turtle power, be the warrior you are meant to be, fight the good fight, remember that better times come after the bitter ones, and when you pray, pray with your hands open: For God both gives and takes away.

- Making The Most Of Being Curious

Daniel J. Cuesta

P.S. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle franchise boasts a tremendously rich history, estimated to be a brand ranking among the top twenty highest-grossing pieces of intellectual property of all time, with a revenue of approximately $17.4 billion. For comparison, that's above franchises like the Avengers, Pac-Man, and even Toy Story.

Sources:

Trials as God’s Answer to Prayer: For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives. - Hebrews 12:5-6

Praying with Open Hands (Submission to God’s Will): But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. - Isaiah 64:8

Warrior Imagery & The Fight of Faith: Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. -1 Timothy 6:12

The Irony of Answer Prayers / God’s Humor in Unexpected Ways: As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. - Genesis 50:20