At 5½, Skylar Grace (my oldest grandchild) is forging ahead in the process of exploring new activities. She’s devotedly taking ballet classes and last week demonstrated some pretty smooth moves, naming them as she went: pirouette, arabesque, plie’, bow.

Though I haven’t seen any of her per- formances in person, I’ve watched videos and stills, and do get the drift of all she’s learned. She loves her teacher and is thrilled when it’s time to go to class. Last week I got to drive her there, and as we pulled up to the dance studio she said, “Don’t take me in, Midgee. I can go by myself.”

After she hopped out of the van in her pink outfit and slammed the car door I said, “You sure look cute in your tu-tu!”

Turning back to face me, she put her hand on her hip and said, “Midgee, this isn’t a tutu. It’s a leotard.” And off she went.

Skylar knows her ballet terminology and has been practicing her positions for many months. She’s beginning to evidence genuine grace, because she listens carefully in class and faithfully tries to emulate her teacher’s movements. But ballet is a complex discipline, and if she sticks with it, achy muscles and bloody toes will be part of her experience.

Very few of us are willing to put in the hours necessary to become good at ballet or anything else that’s an uphill climb to learn. We prefer instead to dabble, hoping for quick results, and when it doesn’t happen, we often drop out. Paying the obligatory price to become proficient (hard work over the long haul) quickly becomes distasteful.

Spiritually speaking we sometimes do the same thing, wanting to live blamelessly before God but only dabbling in the discipline it takes to get there. For instance, we might set a goal to memorize one Scripture verse each week but then skip the review process, expecting the words to “stick” anyway.

Or we promise we’ll be honest with God but then refuse to let him have control over one category of our lives. Or we commit to reading the Bible from cover to cover no matter how many years it takes but get bogged down in Leviticus and throw in the towel.

Our worst enemy, Satan, jumps in the way every time we move one step toward the Lord. He’s thoroughly evil, fighting us with invisible weapons we can’t stand up against… unless we use Scripture and prayer. But if we’re determined to work against his deceit by “following hard after God” (as Tozer would say), we’ll become strong in our faith and will still be standing at the end of his tests, maybe even up on our toes.

Maybe we should simply copy Skylar’s example in ballet class: listen carefully, follow the leader, and practice all the moves. And if we get “bloody toes” in the process, we shouldn’t let that stop us.

“My soul follows hard after You.” (Psalm 63:8)