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Mitch Todd About Mitch

Do the Hard Thing

And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. —Mark 14:35

I had my first root canal yesterday. Lovely experience, and might I add, expensive.

A year ago, the last time I went to my dentist, the tooth had just a cavity. I was supposed to make an appointment to get it filled, but I didn't. And as the weeks turned into months, that cavity started to hurt off and on. I'd pop a couple aspirin and try not to think about it. That is, until last week, when the pain became so great I felt like somebody was sticking a hot poker in my mouth.

So I made an appointment. It's a good thing I did. A couple more months and my dentist said he might not have been able to save my tooth. In the end, I did the hard thing, I accepted the consequences (which ironically involved the dentist sticking what looked like a hot poker into my mouth), and took care of it.

My year-long unwillingness to do the hard thing only made my problems worse. Why do we do that? You're convinced counseling is the only thing that's going to save your marriage — but you just won't make the call. Or you've been feeling down in the dumps for weeks, and you know it's probably because your medication isn't working right — but you won't set up an appointment with your psychiatrist. Or getting to an AA meeting could make all the difference in your fight with alcohol, but you won't make the effort. Or your shoulder's been messed up for months, but surgery seems too hard or too expensive.

Why are we so resistant to doing the hard thing? Well... because it's hard. It may be the right thing to do... perhaps the only logical thing to do, but that doesn't make it any less hard. If it will make you feel any better, Jesus had some trouble with this too. Remember him in the garden of Gethsemane, the night before he was crucified? He prayed for God to let this hour pass him by — he didn't want to do the hard thing.

But he did it. He walked up onto that cross and died. Why? Why would he do something so hard?

Because he had faith. Faith in what was on the other side. Faith that God was always with him, in good times and terrible times. Faith that what he was doing meant getting to the root of the problem...

Kind of like a root canal does. Or calling for marriage counseling or going to an AA meeting. There is something so important about getting to the root of our problems... it means living honestly before God. It means aligning ourselves with what is right and what is Godly. It means exhibiting a kind of bravery in the face of adversity.

I encourage you to do the hard thing. Don't wait. Remember, you aren't alone. God was holding my hand in the dentist chair, and God's arms will be around you, too, with whatever you're facing. That doesn't mean everything will turn out exactly the way you want it to. It doesn't mean there won't be consequences or even more trials to come. What it does mean is that you will have chosen to act. You will have placed your life in God's hands and walked the hard road with God at your side. And let me tell you, that's saying something.

Hey... my mouth may still be sore...

But I can hold my head high!

Have a Great Week,

Mitch
rmitchelltodd@yahoo.com