Struggle Well

Struggle Well

The tent card displayed in my beachside hotel room advised me to keep my drapes closed at night and the light on the balcony off. But not for my own privacy or well-being: for the good of the sea turtles.

Sea turtles hatch on Florida beaches in late summer and early fall, and the hatchlings—once they crack open their buried shells and struggle up through packed sand—begin their nocturnal trek seaward. They move toward the shoreline by a combination of instinct and moonlight reflected on the waves. Man-made light distracts them, turning what should be a straight shot to freedom into a confused (and dangerous) wandering toward other, lesser lights.

This exodus in the dark is full of peril. The hatching is struggle enough. Then comes the arduous crawl from beach to sea, when the hatchling couldn’t be more exhausted. Once in the water, a twenty-four- to forty-eight-hour swim frenzy ensues, moving the turtle to the deeper water where it can survive and thrive. The first year of its existence is known as “the lost year” because during this time it is rarely seen. An eighty-year life span is possible, and once the sea turtle reaches adulthood, it faces few predators. But 90 percent of the hatchlings do not survive their first year.

A dear counselor friend of mine once listened intently and with empathy to a litany of distress, then let a moment or two fill up with not-unkind silence. Then he smiled at me and said with great wisdom, “Struggle well, Leigh.”

When did we hatch the misguided idea that our best life is free from struggle? When did we decide that the things we were made to seek should come to us easily instead? When did we imagine that our status as children of a great King meant a life of bodysurfing ease and not a harrowing swim for our very lives?

Yes, a great salvation is ours. Yes, a wonderful plan for our sanctification is in place. Yes, his victory over sin and death is full and final—but it is the beautiful struggle that proves to us this is so.

Struggle well.

Exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today.” . . . For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

Hebrews 3:13-14, ESV