The Good Struggle
Struggles get a bad rap. I don’t know many people who get excited about hardships or trials. Utopia sounds amazing, but there’s a reason why utopian science fiction movies take a dark turn and morph into a dystopia, and it’s not just to keep viewers interested. It turns out struggles are needed to refine our character and to remind us that we are not God. Utopias create complacency, and complacency allows for pride and exploitation to take control.
Even in the animal kingdom, utopias have been proven to fail. In the late 1960s, John Calhoun conducted an observational study on mice and rats to learn about the factors driving population growth and uncovered some disturbing findings. He created a mouse utopia, Universe 25: a large environment with plenty of food, water, nesting materials, and perfectly climate-controlled conditions. These mice were even pretested to eliminate disease.
The mouse population doubled about every 55 days, and the infant-to-juvenile mortality rate was extremely low. The utopian experiment was going great for the fat and happy mice until about 19 months. Around this time, the population reached just over two thousand, and odd social behaviors began. Some mice became violent, and others lethargic. Alpha males no longer protected the females, and the mothers abandoned or neglected their children.
Maladjusted behavior spread like a disease. Some of the females isolated themselves, becoming hermits, and some of the males began to groom incessantly, losing interest in females and mating. The utopian mouse population plummeted, and by year five, all the mice were dead. One might think the experiment was a fluke, but Universe 25 was so named because John Calhoun had performed 24 prior experiments, all with similar results.
I was reminded of this experiment because my family and I just returned from a cruise. After a week of buffets, maid service, entertainment, and nothing to do but read, play cards, and explore beautiful sites, I was actually grateful to be back home, return to work, and resume my normal eating schedule—a break from constant digesting.
While it’s nice to get away every once in a while, we were made to work, starting with God giving Adam the task of naming the animals. God made us with a divine purpose, and achieving that purpose requires work. We’re not supposed to remain complacent, stay in our comfort zone, and have things handed to us as Universe 25 proved.
David’s sin troubles didn’t start when he slept with Bathsheba, nor did they start when he looked upon her lustfully on the rooftop. His trouble started when he stayed home and didn’t go out to war. Boredom brewed bad behavior. Our purpose keeps us in the proper social hierarchy, where God is first in our lives, and it's His will to be done.
Work is hard, even if it’s a job or task you absolutely love. There are times when work is going to feel impossible and overwhelming, and there will be times when it’s mundane and repetitive, but the Bible tells us in Colossians 3:23-24, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”
James 1:2-4 states, “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”
Just like weight training builds muscles, working through struggles has rewards and results. Raising three boys was hard work (for examples, see my past blogs), but what an amazing reward. They have brought me more joy than I could ever have imagined. They have made me a better version of myself, and I get to see that better version of myself carried on in them.
Praise God for the struggle.