Are You Tough Enough?

"Tough Skin" Jeans.  Anybody remember those?  I may be dating myself slightly here but when I was just a boy every price conscious Mother who had a son that was 100% boy was an investor in "Tough Skins" Jeans.  They were sold at the Sears outlet by my house and in an overwhelming investment my Mother bought me 5 pairs.  THEY WERE THE MOST UNCOMFORTABLE JEANS EVER!  They felt like wearing cardboard and my legs felt like they were constantly itching.  In an effort to destroy these investors of discomfort I did everything I could to wear them out.  I would slide across the classroom floor and even the baseball diamond to wear some holes in the knees.  I would purposefully spill my Kool-Aid on them to induce a stain that not even my Mother could erase.  There was no stopping those jeans!!  They lived up to the name and the only way I got out of them was to outgrow them.  I am convinced that my Mother would have made me wear "Tough Skins" all through High School if Sears wouldn't have discontinued them.  I often wonder if my faith and outlook on life in anyway resembles those jeans; not necessarily pretty but very effective and never wearing out.

In class this past Wednesday we took a look at Romans 5 where Paul tells us that because of the grace that is given through faith we rejoice.  That sounds easy, it's like a kid at Christmas, presents abound and no one deserves them but you'd be hard pressed not to smile.  The problem is, what if that hope finds itself facing tragedy.  The loss of a loved one as our office staff is learning this week as Nicky McDonald buries her husband.  The child facing the tragedy of a Parent's divorce.  The Mother and Father facing financial turmoil.  The girl in the cafeteria who realizes she doesn't look like everyone else and wonders what's wrong with her.  When the hard times come and when life gets hard does your faith look like "Tough Skins" Jeans?

Maybe I need to re-evaluate what "tough" really is.  In my macho world "tough" is the MMA fighter or the guy who can work outside all day and never get tired.  "Tough" is playing a sport with an injury.  "Tough" is not letting anyone walk all over you.  "Tough" is not crying.  "Tough" is hunting, fishing, and all things manly that are done outside.  I can't deny that some, if not all, of those aspects still play a role in my personal definition of "tough" but God is showing me that it is so much more!

"Tough" is looking adversity straight in the face and taking it head on.  "Tough" is knowing that no matter what the world throws at you, you still have a God who sent his Son for you and your salvation is secure.  "Tough" is still finding the strenghth and emotion to praise God in the midst of the storm.  "Tough" is taking the hard things in life and knowing that God will not allow anything to break you but through the grace of God you can and will overcome.  We need to be raising a generation of "Tough" Christians.  People who will praise regardless of the situation.  The Church and our Youth need to grow some backbone.  Not the kind that would make you want to fight MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) but the kind that lessens your sensitivity to what other people say or do but rather how your God looks at you.  "We rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." Romans 5: 3-5  Maybe "Tough" and "hope" go hand in hand.  Be TOUGH, have HOPE!