BAD TOOLS

Disclaimer: the tools in this illustration are not bad of themselves. In fact, they’re quite useful when my husband needs to grab his most useful assortment to repair bikes. But I snapped a photo of them as a reminder of a well-used speaker’s illustration of spiritual problems.  The story is called “The Devil’s Toolbox.”  It describes an imagined yard sale in which the Devil had put out for sale the various tools he used against humans. They were labeled “hatred,” “envy,” “jealousy,” “pride” and so on.  Off to one side was a very worn tool with an extravagant price. When customers asked about it, curious why it cost so much when it was obviously in poor shape, he replied, “That’s ‘discouragement.’ It’s worn because it’s my most useful tool. It helps me pry open human hearts when the others can’t.”

Those tools of the tempter came to mind as I read the counsel of psychologist Dr. Henry Cloud about working through emotional pain in the journey toward Christian character. Facing negative things in our lives is hard, he wrote in Integrity: The Courage to Meet the Demands of Reality (Harper, 2006, pp. 198-199). But, to borrow a cliché to emotional healthiness, “No pain, no gain.” He added: "Even the best things in life that are free, as we say, such as love, have big price tags in order to possess. Self-denial, sacrifice, giving, delay of gratification, repentance, forgiveness, swallowing pride and ego, are all among the price tags of making love work. But, in the end, it is always worth it.”

Fixing things that are “not good” in our lives—like a marriage or relationship, addiction, depression, failure, or even a physical injury—happens every day to people who prize character above comfort. “There is no easy street and no shortcut,” he added. “In the end, the short-cut is always the longest route, and people of character know this and it has become a part of their makeup” (p. 199).

He goes on to point out that teaching children about delayed gratification and keeping short accounts are part of the training that goes into positive adult character.  That made me think of the “discouragement” tool. Its blows are felt the hardest by people who haven’t been brought up to learn resilience and forgiving grace, the very character qualities modeled by Jesus. And again, James 1 came to mind: that when trials come, we can consider them a burden or an opportunity to grow in godly perseverance. In other words, saying a firm “NO!” to the threatened blows of the Enemy’s “discouragement” tool.

It’s not always easy, but it’s God’s best way.