Fight The Resistance

A Reflection on the Second Reading for September 20th, 2020:
Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Philippians
1.20-24, 27

Brothers and sisters: Christ will be exalted now as always in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labour for me; and I do not know which I prefer. I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you. Live your life in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ.
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Pause. Pray.

And then read more...

“Live your life in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ.”

This is most certainly easier said than done. 

I’ve been reflecting quite a lot lately on what it means to live up to that statement. Living my life to reach the full potential of what God has blessed me with is much greater than simply being a kind person and doing good deeds. Although that’s definitely a great start, there are many difficulties I need to overcome in order to be the person that the Lord intended me to be. One of the biggest blockades in my life is resistance. 

Just this past week, I started reading Mathew Kelly’s “Resisting Happiness: A true story about why we sabotage ourselves, feel overwhelmed, set aside our dreams, and lack the courage to simply be ourselves...” As soon as I read that title I knew it was a book that I needed to add to my collection. Kelly describes resistance as “that sluggish feeling of not wanting to do something that you know is good for you, it’s the inclination to do something that you unabashedly know is not good for you, and it’s everything in between” (Kelly, 2016, pg. 1). He describes resistance as an enemy that we battle every day. From hitting the snooze button to delaying morning prayer, there are so many instances throughout the day that we are faced with resistance. He makes the powerful statement that “Laziness, procrastination, fear, doubt, instant gratification, self-loathing, indecision, escapism, pride, self-deception, friction, tension, and self-sabotage are just some of the ways resistance manifests its ugly self in our lives and causes us to settle for so much less than God has imagined for us” (Kelly, 2016, pg.2). 

As I reflected on the last line of this reading, I realized that living my life in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ requires that I constantly fight those points of resistance in my life. I feel at times that I continuously convince myself that what I have on the go is much too urgent to take a moment to pray or to be still with God. This is resistance at its finest. It is the busyness that convinces us to settle for less than the amazing potential that God has placed within us. However, knowing these areas of resistance in my life has really helped me to be aware of them so that I can do my best to live in the way that God intended. I pray that I can wake up each morning to fight the resistance in my life so that I can live my life in a way that is worthy of the Gospel of Christ. Amen.




Megan Noye

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