Editor’s note: Levi Lusko’s new book, Blessed Are the Spiraling, reminds us that when we’re in the midst of a raging storm, or transition, or major life change, we’re actually positioned perfectly for God to do what only He can do and in the middle of it find supernatural joy. Enjoy this excerpt.
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There’s a particular pattern in most stories, and once you see it, you can’t unsee it. It’s everywhere — in Harry Potter, The Matrix, The Lord of the Rings, and even children’s movies like Moana or Aladdin. It’s a universal narrative structure called the hero’s journey, which Joseph Campbell famously introduced in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. It resonates across cultures and appears in the story arcs of countless novels, movies, and myths.
The hero’s journey framework can vary ever so slightly but consistently contains five basic movements, which I’ll explain through The Lion King story:
- Call to Adventure: Simba is forced to leave home after his dad’s death.
- Meeting the Mentor: While comfortable and complacent with Timon and Pumbaa, Simba comes to his senses after Rafiki guides him.
- Crossing the Threshold: Simba decides to face his past, returning to Pride Rock.
- Ordeal: Simba confronts Scar and faces the truth about Mufasa’s death.
- Return with the Elixir: Simba drives out the hyenas and takes his rightful place, restoring order.
Star Wars is another clear example of this storyline — in fact, George Lucas blatantly utilized it to develop Luke Skywalker’s journey.
My favorite character in those classic movies set in a galaxy far, far away is the mentor Yoda, who lives in the Dagobah system. Like Morpheus, Gandalf, and Rafiki with their pupils, Yoda guides Skywalker in his path.
Now, what I’ll say next is based not on my love for the adorable green guy with hairy ears but on what I believe is true wisdom: You and I need to become Yoda.
Being the young warrior is fine, but when you learn to see yourself as a mom or dad, then an elder, and finally a wise sage who focuses on mentoring those in need of direction, you can exponentially increase the impact you have in life. Because while it’s easy to be impressed with the flashy light-saber-wielding warrior in the arena (and the platform and influence that come with it), you can easily miss a sage’s deep value and wide reach at first glance. An old hermit living in a cave who spends their time training younglings hardly seems worthy of celebration or emulation, but when it comes to Yoda, there is more than meets the eye.
“Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is.”
A spiritual return to infancy was an underlying principle Jesus helped Nicodemus grasp when he was baffled by Jesus’ saying,
Unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. — John 3:3
Nicodemus was much older than Jesus, but he came to Jesus as a student after scratching his head about something. He found Jesus’ comment as bizarre as the cryptic messages Yoda gave to Skywalker. Crawl back into their mother’s womb and start again, who can? he thought.
Jesus explained,
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. — John 3:6
Meaning, the new birth is not by way of water in the birth canal; it is of the Spirit. The “pneuma” wind, not the amniotic fluid. You can be born out of your mother’s womb into a family, a nation, or money, but not into the Kingdom of God. That takes a second spiritual baptism by the Holy Ghost, something not visible in the physical realm.
When you are reborn from above, what happens next is amazing. Though your body continues to decline, each day, in every way, your spirit does the opposite — it is revitalized.
This is what Paul referenced in 2 Corinthians 4:16–18 when he wrote,
We do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
I can picture Paul looking at himself in the mirror later in life. He has crow’s feet, wrinkles across his forehead, a few extra chins, sunspots, and scars from all his battle wounds. I see my own deepening furrows, scars, and hands that are looking increasingly old-manish holding the steering wheel. You probably have your own version of this. It can be discouraging. We have an earthly problem that stems from an earthly perspective.
If all your eggs are in this life’s basket, that is an absolute crisis. What can you do besides nip, tuck, fill, backfill, and inject Botox? Not that there is anything inherently wrong with cosmetic procedures. But if this life is all you get, the perishing of the outward man is a calamity. Instead, like Paul, you should know that the mirror is only telling part of the story, and the least important part at that. As Eugene Peterson put it, “Reality is mostly made up of what we cannot see.”
At some point every human will struggle with aging. Maybe you are wrestling with it super hard right now. But knowing we’ve been reborn of the Spirit and that there is so much more to us than meets the eye will guide us in wisdom! And this idea obviously has application far beyond the crisis of old age.
There is hope in the promise of future glory to sink your teeth into when you are grieving, dealing with medical setbacks, suffering from depression, or spiraling through any trial. The resurrection of Jesus and its implications will help you see wildflowers in your tornado. According to the New Testament, it is the emphatic answer to the question of whether our lives matter. If Christ is risen, our labor is not in vain! Since He is alive, your life on this earth matters — every bit of it!
And when, like Paul, you have been reborn spiritually and find yourself on the other side of the hill, you can find especially great comfort in knowing you are on the way to an eternity of glory. Between now and then, your spirit will be “reverse aging” like Benjamin Button (only less creepy than a baby version of Brad Pitt).
You won’t need to despair at the prospect of aging, because, in all the ways that count, you are getting better with time, not worse.
To grow in maturity is to become more like Christ.
You mustn’t rely on what you can see with the naked eye.
Trials are temporary; triumph is forever. Ironically, part of how we become like Christ involves becoming like a child. G. K. Chesterton wrote, “We have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.” Obviously, we are not to be childish and foolish; we instead are to be childlike and free.
Think about it this way: Children are naked and unashamed; they don’t know or care about social standing. They practice imagination and whimsy; they wear bathing suits and cowboy boots. It’s grand to be like a child! We may dismiss it, but as Jesus said,
Of such is the Kingdom of Heaven. — Matthew 19:14
C. S. Lewis once wrote, “When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”
As we grow up in our faith, we trust God with that childlike dependence that can move mountains, even amid the trials we face in this life. This includes the aches and pains of aging — the stiff joints, circulation issues, hair loss, cloudy memory, and trouble doing simple tasks like tying our shoes. All of these can be opportunities for God to work something glorious in us. The more nicks, sagginess, bruises, bumps, and blotches we accumulate, the more occasion we have to trust in Him and become more like Him. As we depend on Him along the way, we can become more patient, gentle, kind, and caring.
When you get to Heaven, you will not have to rely on hearing aids, walkers with tennis balls, or heart medicine. You will, however, get to keep the grace that was produced in you while enduring such things.
Do you believe that you can get better with time, like a fine wine? If you don’t, begin now, my friend, because it’s 100 percent true.
And do you ever celebrate that your signs of aging mean you are headed somewhere better? Another new thing to start up. After you press into Christ through every trial and come to the end of this life — when it’s ashes to ashes and dust to dust for your body — you will get to go to your Father’s house. Paul wrote with full confidence,
We know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. — 2 Corinthians 5:1
- For the Christian, death is not leaving home; it’s going home.
Life on earth is like a camping trip. Life in Heaven, which will culminate in living on a recreated earth, is like our real house. The house has what the tent does not — including a permanent address.
In a very real sense, death means coming off the road, ditching the tent, and moving into our forever home, because life does not end when our physical body dies.
As I have said before, death either takes you to your treasure or away from it; it depends on where you keep it. And once you realize your treasure is not on this earth, you don’t have to be terrified of leaving it.
Having this perspective flips our view of death, bringing it out of the “dread” category and into the “defeated foe” category, one that accomplishes God’s will. Thus “precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints” (Psalm 116:15). It is the vehicle by which we are brought home.
With this jujitsu firmly in mind, we not only are free from fearing aging but also can appreciate what God is seeking to do through us while we face it. It becomes like Black Panther’s suit, where all the pain is converted to power. (So bring on the fiber, the early dinners, the reader glasses, and the bird-watching if they make us more like Christ. Wakanda forever, yo!)
We know that aging — and any kind of suffering, for that matter — is not for the faint of heart, but it doesn’t have to be full of terror. Don’t mishear me. I’m not being glib; I have looked into the faces of loved ones I have lost, and it is hard. But Paul said that to depart and be with Christ is far better than remaining in this body. The house has got what the tent does not. This is our living hope.
Excerpted with permission from Blessed Are the Spiraling by Levi Lusko, copyright Levi Lusko.
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Your Turn
Are you wrestling with something really hard right now? Are you worried? Knowing we’ve been reborn of the Spirit and that there is so much more to us than meets the eye will guide us in wisdom! Let’s learn to see wildflowers in the tornados of life because we’ll be in Heaven before we know it. Life does not end when our physical body dies. Praise Jesus! ~ Devotionals Daily