Difficult-Difficult

I learned a term from Precision Nutrition that they stole from someone else: difficult-difficult. Here’s how it works.

• Difficult-easy: This is about hard work that gets you nowhere. It’s working hard at stuff that doesn’t matter. It’s annoying, doesn’t result in much, and is usually within your comfort zone.
• Difficult-difficult: This is work that’s scary, meaningful, and that requires growth. It’s hard, but it’s the right kind of hard.

Most of us work hard. The problem: many of us work hard at things that are difficult-easy because it’s safer. Difficult-difficult is where the growth is.

I thought of this when a couple of people commented on how hard church planting has been for us. They’re right, but when they said this I’d just been thinking about how fun and rewarding it’s been. It’s simultaneously the hardest and the most rewarding thing I’ve done. It’s difficult-difficult.

So much of what God calls us to is difficult-difficult. I’m grateful for people who don’t settle for difficult-easy, but press into obedience that requires them to grow and God to show up. As God gives me grace, I want to be in their number.