Motivation for the Messy Middle

Ever feel stuck? Ever work your tail off and feel like the results you see are minimal compared to the effort you’ve exerted? Been there. Done that. Bought not just the t-shirt, but the whole stinkin’ outfit … and then hated the way it fit. (insert long drawn out sigh) ;)

Ever prayed in desperation for God to give you breakthrough, yet you feel like day in and day out, you struggle climbing the same endless mountain? Yep, been there too.

I’ve prayed for an algebraic formula for success. Knowing, just knowing, that if I could figure out the numbers needed, I could pop those into the formula and get the answer I wanted.

I’ve done the “Spiritual Pretzel”. You know that one… it’s the one where you bend and twist in all the ways you think you need to in order to get God to notice you and finally answer your endless prayers.

No matter the mountain that is your horizon today, keep climbing. I say that, not from my vantage point at the top of my own mountain, but from somewhere in the messy middle.

Yes, that place that is utterly defined as messy, and somewhere between where you started and where you long to be.

I think the messy middle feels like one of the longest treks in the journey. It’s like the day that doesn’t end, the year that keeps on giving what you never thought you wanted, the pain that revisits regularly, giving you no time to catch your breath before it hits again.

When you’re in the messy middle, it’s hard not to get stuck there mentally. It’s discouraging to continue climbing when you’re exhausted and weakened by the difficulties of the journey.

But if you can find that source of motivation, gumption, and inspiration to keep trying, I think the messy middle turns into a chapter you can love. A chapter where you grew beyond what you ever knew possible. A place where you healed what you thought was permanently broken. A season where you transformed and evolved from the hardship that you thought would never end.

Though the messy middle feels like being in the middle of the forest, dense fog making the journey precarious and impossibly slow, terrain that keeps your boots muddy and weighty, and navigation next to impossible…..keep walking, climbing, crawling, in any way, inching your way forward.

If you find yourself in the messy middle today, close your eyes, take a breath, and keep going friend… there is a peak to this mountain, and God sees your struggle. Don’t let your current list of frustrations steal the joy of today. There is joy in the journey… if you can see it.

Look over to your left. See me waving? I’m climbing too. Now to the right. See the others? We’re all climbing a mountain of some form… keep going… you’re in good company.