God has rolled up his sleeves for me and for you

​These days, a God who sits on a distant throne, reading and writing in the book of life, that's a God who just doesn't work well in my life. I guess that's why I'm grateful I have a God who is willing to roll up his sleeves and come fight for me - and with me - as I tackle the stories that ultimately fill his book.

I think there was a day when God felt like I just wasn't ready to see his muscled arm. He said, you want to tackle this world behind the strength of your own arm? Have at it. God knew the clearest way for me to come to see his sleeves rolled up was me coming to see just how useless my rolled up sleeves were without him.

And I assure you - I've come to see that.

I used to have the wrong impression of God. I always viewed him as a magician - a guy who could sit in total nothingness and then one day on a whim he breathed and suddenly there was a world. A world full of life: nature and you and me.

Then it got complicated for me. It got complicated as I discovered the you and me part of his breath - well we have struggles. And I turned to spending hours looking toward that invisible throne, trying to interrupt the God who was reading and writing, and I kept saying, excuse me, but I could use a little help here.

Only I was looking for help from the magic God. I wanted the God who exhaled the troubles into my life to inhale. I wanted him to take one giant breath in - hold it please - and suck every last struggle out of my life back into his.

Lately, God has showed me that's not how it works. Not with a God of love.

God has showed me the more powerful way for him to show me he loves me isn't to inhale, but to roll up. He's rolled up into my life with rolled up sleeves and he's said every morning, we are in for a fight, but we ARE going to fight.

More than once lately my prayer has been, God - please roll up your sleeves.

And more than once lately, when the day has felt particularly challenging, I've stopped and pictured my God with rolled up sleeves and a holy muscled arm.

And more than once lately, at the end of a day, when I've battled through to the other side, I've been grateful for the blessing of coming to know my muscled arm is never muscle enough. I'm grateful for the reminder that I have a God beside me who loves helping me battle more than he loves reading and writing on a throne.

Often, that reminder from God comes from you or someone like you. It comes when we roll up our sleeves and show up to do battle for and with one another. It comes with a common recognition that life isn't magic - it's work.

I think God's ultimately desire is to one day slowly lower his book, peer out at us over the top of it, and see the world he breathed life into united with rolled up sleeves and muscled arms, all fighting in love for one another.

Until then, I'm thankful he keeps rolling up his sleeves for me.

And for you.