God is a crutch!

Be a man! Man UP! Real men do...fill in the blank. Men don't cry. Our society has all kinds of rules that make a man. Some men (and women) reject God because they say that people use Him as a crutch and that it shows weakness. And they don't want to show that they are weak. Like most lies from Satan, there is some truth to this. God is there to be a crutch, and sometimes even a wheelchair, to get us through life. The lie is that you will be less of a person because you acknowledge that you need help, something we all know is hard for men right?. But if we were all transparent and honest we would admit that there are times that we do need help. Whether we are lost, can't put something together just right, can't fix the plumbing or your son is sick in the hospital and just as you think there is light at the end of the tunnel it turns out to be another train.

So answer these questions. Is a man really less of a man because he stops to ask directions? Does a man lose points in the game of life because he actually read the instructions? Is there some secret society of older men who sit around and deem someone less of a man because he doesn't know who the Cy Young award winner was from 1976, or even because he doesn't know what sport that it's for? If these are the guidelines for being a man, then there are a lot of women who are a whole lot manlier then me.

There is one thing that I find interesting in all of this. One principle that I find in the world's view of being a man is that a real man does things that are hard. Real men are strong and can lift heavy weights. Real men ride bulls and get up after being bucked off and trampled on. Real men arm wrestle. Real men get tattoos. Real men wrap up their wound and keep going. Real men play football. Over and over again we see that our society views real men as being able to do things that are hard, that are tough. Men want to do things that no one else can do. Lift more weight. Stay on the bull longer. Climb the business ladder farther. Have more scars. Shot the biggest buck. Catch the biggest fish. Have the most tattoos. Most men are chasing after one of these things. It's what drives them. It's what pushes them. It's what motivates them to sacrifice something to reach their goal. And that's the thing that gets me. Men are willing to sacrifice things in their life to attain something else. Sometimes it's their physical body, sometimes it's their family, sometimes it's their friends/coworkers. Rarely though will they sacrifice their own reputation as a "man." They will not sacrifice that in order to attain the only thing that will not turn into sand when they reach it. The one thing that most men will not do that no one else is doing, is to stand on their knees and ask for help. That is by far the hardest thing to do. It takes more strength to bow down than to pull a semi truck 100 ft. And the other thing is that other men can pull the semi truck 100 ft, big deal.

My point in all of this is that God is a crutch. Life deals us some pretty crippling circumstances and God is the only reliable crutch out there that won't ever buckle under us. If it seems that we have fallen on our face because the crutch is gone, it's not because He left us, it's because we let go of Him and tried to do it on our own. It's easy to worship God when things are easy and going good. And I will be the first to admit that it's hard, catch that men, it's hard to worship Him when things are going bad. But here is the Truth. God never changed. He is no different in the good times then He is in the bad times. The only thing that changes is our circumstances and God never promised us a pain free life. Even Jesus, who was God in flesh, perfect and sinless, experienced pain.

So if you are going through a difficult time in your life, no matter what it is, please don't give up on God. Use Him as your crutch and a wheelchair. Lean on Him for your strength. He is the only one who can truly make us strong when we are weak. Men, be a man and stand on your knees.