Monday-How to Never Stumble

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 1:10,11

One week to the day after a total replacement of my right knee, Hurricane Milton hit our area. In preparation, we brought most of Mary Ann’s potted plants in for protection. The pool deck and garage looked like the hanging gardens of Babylon. They were overflowing with tomato, cucumber, and rose plants.

While we didn’t get the kind of damage that makes the news, there was a lot of debris all over the place. Branches needed to be picked up. The yard needed to be raked. And all those plants needed to be put back in their proper place.

So, you’re wondering, how could I help do all this just after major surgery? The answer is that I couldn’t. Even with effective and powerful 21st century pain medications, I was pretty much out of commission. Without the help of our son Eddie, I don’t know how we would have made it.

I wasn’t going to let a little thing like total knee replacement keep me from helping. With a cane in one hand, I tried to drag the potted plants back to their place. And when I needed both hands, I limped along as I tried to help as much as possible.

Since your friends, and no one else is listening, I’m going to tell you a secret. Raise your right hand because you’re sworn to secrecy. While I didn’t fall completely, I did stumble and almost hit the ground three times. The only reason I didn’t wind up on the floor was because of God’s kindness and that there was something to grab onto.

Now stumbling and grabbing onto something is one thing. But it’s something altogether different right after this kind of surgery. I was able to experience a new kind of pain that’s still fresh in my mind. After each near fall, I staggered to a place where I could plop down and get my knee up in the air for a while.

Not stumbling when we’re healthy and strong isn’t too much to ask. After all, someone who stumbles needs help and we certainly don’t. But when we’re weak, stumbling is a much bigger problem.

Funny thing about stumbling, you never stumble when you’re not doing anything. When we’re watching television or sitting in a chair at the beach, there’s no chance that you’re going to stumble. But when we’re on the move, stumbling is always a possibility. And the consequences can be really hard and painful.

Remember that I mentioned having a total knee replacement? Guess how I came to the anguished conclusion that I needed it. That’s right. I was walking through a parking garage in the dark, not looking where I was going, and I stumbled over a concrete curb.

Actually, that’s wrong. I didn’t stumble. I stumbled and fell. And when I fell, my right knee hit the concrete first. Yes, some skin did get scraped off. But the real damage happened inside. About two weeks later, I was forced to consider doing what I had been delaying for years.

Stumbling physically can be scarry and hurtful. But when we stumble in our relationship with our loving Heavenly Father, it’s so much worse. Knee replacement might be painful, but not nearly as devastating as hurting the one who loves us. As turning away from the one who died for us.

Peter says that there’s a way not to stumble. It’s not easy. It’s not natural. It’s not some special spiritual blessing that God sends down from on high. No. Not stumbling comes through making every effort to confirm your calling and election.

So, how do we confirm these things? It’s both simple and hard at the same time. Our relationship with God is not confirmed by us but by God. So, we confirm it when we depend on him to do all the work. He did all the heavy lifting on the cross so we could rely on him to save us. To forgive us. To pull us close to him.

The way that we stop confirming is when we try to do it on our own. When we think that it’s all up to us. That our relationship with God is made right when we do enough things. When we stop doing all those bad things and do enough good things.

Making every effort is just that. Effort. It takes focus and hard work each and every day. It means never giving up, no matter how hard life is. But this work is not to pay for our sins, but in response to who God is and all he’s done.

After the shocking and sudden death of my brother, it fell to me to take care of my parents. They were both in their 90’s and still living alone in their own house without any outside help. I have to tell you that it was a lot of hard work to start helping them. It seemed like there was something every day that had to be taken care of.

So, why go to all this hard work? Because of all that they had done for me. They not only gave me life but taught me many life lessons that still guide me on a daily basis. I made every effort in response to their love and provision. We owe God so much more, so he deserves nothing less than our making every effort each and every day.

Noodling Questions

• Describe in detail a time that you stumbled.

• Why are we so embarrassed about stumbling?

• How can God’s lovingkindness motivate us to make every effort?