What do I mean when I say “learn to struggle well?” As you may or may not know, I follow the South Carolina Gamecocks. I know, I know, go ahead ridicule me for it. It is hard to be a Carolina Gamecock fan, especially the last few years. With that being said, just follow me for a bit on this. We recently hired a new head coach and with a new coach comes a whole new staff to go along with it. That includes Offensive and Defensive Coordinators, OLine and DLine coaches, as well as Strenght and Conditioning coaches. Notably, the new Strength and Conditioning coach that was hired is named Luke Day. It came time to do the introductory press conferences where everyone gets introduced. All the reporters get to ask them questions and such, I am sure it is a fun time for the coaches. Nevertheless, when Luke Day spoke, I could tell that he was passionate about what he had to say. One thing that really stuck out to me was his mantra of “Struggle Well”. Consequently, one reporter asked him to explain what he meant by that. (You can watch the video below where this took place. I encourage you to start it at the beginning and watch the whole video).

Luke went on to say that sometimes we are taught or made to believe that if we can just get through what we are going through that things will be better. If we just had more money to pay our bills and to buy what want, we would not have to struggle. If we just can make a fast-food drive-through of everything, make everything quick as possible, download the app, get the fast results we want, things would be better. You know, get the hard parts out of the way, then, and maybe then, everything will be ok. Basically, if we can just get past our struggles, whatever that may look like for you. Luke was saying that is not the way it should be. We should learn to struggle well. What he is implying is we should learn to enjoy our struggles, or at least be good at them because that is what produces greatness in us. In football, there are no shortcuts to getting better. It starts in the weight room by getting bigger, faster, and stronger. You have to struggle in order to achieve those feats. You cannot just lift light weights and expect to grow and get stronger. The same applies to everything in life.

In Romans 5, we see that God has told us to rejoice in our sufferings. Suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character. God is telling us here that we have to endure suffering in order to grow as Christians. As Christians, our suffering matters because we know what we have to look forward to. We have something to rejoice about. Life is all about struggles. You are either going through a struggle (valley) or you just came through one (Mountains top). If you want to grow in your Christian walk/life, you must learn to rejoice in the struggles. Struggling makes our faith stronger, just as those athletes that are struggling with the heavyweights get stronger.

Struggling Makes Us Vulnerable

When you are struggling that is when you are most vulnerable. Satan knows this too because this is when he will attack you. I am reminded of a quote that my late uncle once told me, “Behold the turtle, he makes no progress unless he sticks out his neck. (James Conant)” The turtle cannot move unless he comes out of his protective shell, sticks out his head and feet, and start moving. This is also when he is vulnerable to attacks though. It is a risky move for him. But the turtle must endure being vulnerable and learn to struggle well if he wants to move forward. His life depends on it. Nevertheless, we must also make ourselves vulnerable while keeping God at the center of our life. It is in our vulnerability that we learn life’s greatest lessons. If we allow fear to creep in, that allows us to get off track and out of focus with God. By becoming vulnerable we depend on God’s guidance for our life and He becomes our center and focus. God wants us to rely on Him, He wants us to ask Him for guidance. By keeping God at the center of everything we do, we can endure and rejoice in our struggles. Don’t give up, keep struggling with your problems. The struggle is what makes us better and ultimately brings us closer to God. So learn to struggle well.

-Ronnie Williams

To view the video, click on this link here.

Borrowed from South Carolina Gamecocks Youtube Channel.