Bite the Bullet
June 19, 2005
Dear Friends:
A short time ago, I had the pleasure to work with a young brother in Christ who was loaded with talent Smart, personable, good-looking, athletic, good leadership abilities – this young man had it all. He was very blessed by God. Unfortunately, his Achilles heel was, in part, his strengths. As sometimes happens, this young man was so gifted that he had coasted through his young life. Not only did he coast, but he used his considerable abilities to avoid doing hard things by getting others to do them for him. His leadership was all too often self-serving
Having observed the way he used his skills and caring for this young bundle of unused talent, I called him into see me one day and presented him with a gift of a “medicine bullet.” I had a Civil War bullet with the prefect impression of a man’s molar in it.
Back during the days of the American Civil War, if an arm or a leg was severely injured or became gangrenous, it had to be amputated. While many times anesthesia was available, sometime it was not. In these cases, a soldier was given a lead bullet to bite while having their limb amputated. This “medicine bullet” was soft enough that while the patient was biting down hard on it, it would not break their teeth This is where we get the phrase “bite the bullet” meaning “doing something difficult that we would otherwise like to avoid.”
I told this young man exactly what I have told you. He was full of talent and ability, but he was not using his gifts as he should to the honor and glory of God. Instead of serving others, he was using his gifts to just get by. I told him that I wanted him to keep this gift with him to remind him that sometimes we need to do the hard things because it is the right thing to do. In the long run, doing things right is always preferable to just getting by.
Similarly, the Lord Jesus Christ was a man of talents. He could have gained much wealth, but instead chose to have nowhere to lay his head He could turn stones into bread for himself, but instead fed the five thousand He could have dined with kings, but instead ate with publicans and sinners He could have been filled with self-love, but instead he loved us He could come down from the cross, but instead he stayed He had to learn to obey He had to appreciate the long-term goals of his Father The Scriptures tell us concerning Jesus that “though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.” (Heb. 5:8) Should we avoid the same lesson?
Like this young man and Christ, we all need to learn to bite the bullet God didn’t give us difficult things in life to annoy, confound or otherwise abuse us God wants us to get stronger, learn obedience and increase our faith Like Moses, we all need to choose “to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.” (Heb. 11:25) It won’t be easy, but God never promised us it would be What He did promise us is “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” (Heb. 13:5) With that amazing promise let us be content
Have a great week!
