Sometimes we need to try different, not harder

​There are a few areas in my life where I've thought I tried.

There are a few where I currently think I am trying.

But am I?

There's a story in the bible in the book of Luke. The story goes like this:

Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and TRIED to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this BECAUSE OF the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.

I'm reflecting this morning on some areas in my life where I tried until "because of" and then I quit trying.

Sometimes "because of" is absolutely a reason to quit trying. But sometimes "because of" is absolutely a reason to try something different. Often when we try and it doesn't work, we think we need to try harder. When sometimes it means we simply need to try something different.

Try it from a different place.

Try it surrounded by different people.

Try it with a different attitude.

I know a challenging 'try' in my life the last few years has been being a dad.

I am trying to be a good dad.

And if I'm honest, there are days I tell myself I'm trying to be a good dad, but BECAUSE I don't live with them anymore, BECAUSE I don't sit at the dinner table with them, BECAUSE I don't get to give them a hug or slap them a high five every day, BECAUSE of what other people think of me the dad, BECAUSE of all of that, I can't be a good dad.

There are days I grow weary trying to fight an impossible fight.

But the fight gets to feeling impossible because I try to fight it through the lens of what culture and many people other than my sons consider to be a good dad.

The men helping the paralyzed man tried to go through the doors of the church because that's where people thought you had to go to find Jesus. When they couldn't get in, they could have turned around and went home and said we tried everything.

We tried to get to Jesus the way you get to Jesus and it didn't work.

But these men cared about their friend too much to settle for the idea that there is only one way to get to Jesus. They cared too much about meeting a man's need who needed them.

So they climbed up on the roof and lowered him to a place many thought the paralyzed man didn't belong. The friends tried something not many friends would be willing to try.

(And without offering a spoiler alert, I'll let you know they got to Jesus and Jesus accepted and healed the man.)

We live in a world that sometimes equates our failings with not trying hard enough. Yet sometimes we're trying plenty hard enough, even too hard, when we actually need to be trying something different.

If you have areas like that in your life, where you feel like you've tried everything, where you're feeling exhausted from all of the trying, consider the possibility that you need to try something different.

Consider walking away from the door and climbing up on the roof.

The reality is, we can see things a lot clearer from up on the roof. 🤷‍♂️