“You have to learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable.”
This is a saying in endurance sports. It seems that endurance sport is the rare place where suffering is exalted and even sought. We praise those athletes that dig deep, feel the burn, and deny themselves to achieve their goal.
Sadly, the endurance sports’ lesson of suffering’s value fails to make it into everyday life. Mostly, we want our everyday lives to be free from suffering. In fact, we not only want it free from suffering, but we also want it free from discomfort, frustrations, and general annoyance.
Not all pain is the same, but our reaction to pain, intense or minor, is the same. Our inclination is to flee pain, avoid it, minimize it, remove it. However, if everything that does not go our way is suffering in a degree, then it is pain on some scale.
Life is pain because life is a struggle with suffering. We struggle with all those disappointments that are not as we want; big and small; painful and annoying; consuming and distracting.
Perfection is the absence of suffering.
Those who pursue perfection to escape suffering are the ones who suffer the most. Humans are imperfect. Society is imperfect. Nature is imperfect. If you demand perfection, you will suffer the more than anyone else.
There is only one who is perfect.
Therefore, life is a management of suffering in all its degrees while we await the perfection to come.
We don’t want to suffer the consequences of an immoral life. Therefore, we suffer the lesser pain of self-denial.
We don’t want to suffer want and need. Therefore, we suffer the discomfort of self-discipline.
We don’t want to be crushed by the inevitabilities of life. Therefore, we serve others and humble ourselves.
We don’t want to suffer eternal punishment for a sinful life. Therefore, we lose our lives so that we might gain them.
Now, there is a paradox here for those who are in Christ. We are commanded to follow in obedience, to deny ourselves, to pick up our crosses and follow Christ. We are also told that it is God who is at work in us to will and to act in order to fulfill His purposes. This is the paradox that we all live. How does all that work? I am not entirely sure. However, I do know that within this paradox I have enough incentive and encouragement to endure. I have learned that when I embrace the denial of self, the power to preserve always comes through the Spirit, usually a while after I think I need Him, but in His time.
Suffering reveals our weaknesses. It reveals what we value most. Suffering is training. It reveals perfection if we dare to look. That is the knowledge that every “liver” of life needs to navigate through all the pain.
Suffering cannot be escaped, but we do have a choice in what we learn.
Pick your pain or your pain will pick you; learn its lessons or pain will be absent of purpose. So, dig deep, feel the burn, endure the race because perfection will have its day.
“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory!” Psalm 72:18-19
The following is a devotion I was allowed to share with students at a recent NCFCA National Open tournament in Spokane, WA. I hope you find it encouraging.
I have been reading a book by Andy Grove, former CEO of Intel, called “High Output Management”. It is not a Christian book and I don’t know if Andy Grove was a Christian. This is, as the title suggests, a book on management.
I read a statement in his book regarding the manufacturing process that I found profound enough to post it on Instagram (@blom.jd), which is the true measurement of a quote. I believe this singular sentence encapsulates a truth that goes beyond the production of widgets or the motivation of employees. He stated:
A common rule we should always try to heed is to detect and fix any problem in a production process at the lowest-value stage possible.
Obviously, the context of his statement is manufacturing. Simply, it is better to remedy a problem as close to the raw materials of a manufacturing process as possible. It really is a common-sense statement. It is always better to discover a problem before you make continued investments of time, money, intellect, and a myriad of resources.
However, there is a universality of this simple principle that goes beyond business. Simply change the words, production process, and you may see a much wider application.
A common rule we should always try to heed is to detect and fix a problem in our relationships, friendships, school studies, debate case, speeches, at the lowest-value stage possible. Doesn’t that make sense?
When is the best time to dump a problematic debate case or a cluttered speech?
At the last tournament, after you have invested much time and effort or
before the season even begins?
Obviously, it will be far better to address the problem before the season starts,
at the lowest-value stage.
It makes sense.
This morning I look out and see a crowd of individuals who are at a very low-value stage. Now, don’t be offended; “he called me low-value”. I did not. I am observing that most of you are at the beginning of your potential. You are at the starting line of a myriad of different paths. Soon, you will be making massive investments in the subsequent steps on your individual paths that we call life.
Therefore, is it not sensible to try to detect and
fix any problems at this early stage in your life?
I can tell you as a middle-aged man who has had to address problems later in life, at “higher value” stages of life, that it gets much more difficult and messy the longer you wait to address a problem. Therefore, my first advice to you this morning is to live by the simple principle:
It is far better to detect and fix problems when they are small and manageable,
before they become difficult and messy problems.
My next advice is associated with how to detect and fix these small problems in our lives, which leads me to another book I am reading, the Complete works of Jonathan Edwards. The other day I posted this quote from my readings to Instagram.
Let us endeavor to obtain, and increase in, a sensibleness of our great dependence on God, to have our eye to him alone, to mortify a self-dependent and self-righteous disposition.
I look out upon you all this morning, and I see the sovereign hand of God. I see a generation being raised in the power of the Holy Spirit for the challenges of a time yet to come. I see excellence elicited, skills sharpened, intellect ignited for what, I do not know but I do know that it is for a purpose.
This is all for a purpose.
Therefore, I implore you this morning hear Jonathan Edwards’ advice because I know of few problems that have a greater potential to seep into your life and ruin all of this wonderful potential then problems from the seeds of self-dependence and self-righteousness. If you do not detect them early then they will manifest themselves later in your life, at higher-value stages, when it will be much more painful and destructive.
Take on an attitude of imperfection; continually, daily, seeking out problems before they are difficult and messy problems.
Endeavor to obtain and increase in the sensibleness of your complete dependence on God; it truly is sensible – learn what that means and increase in that understanding.
Start a practice of setting your eyes on Him alone. Learn how to control your mind.
Start a practice of mercilessly putting to death an attitude of self-dependence. You are who you are by the grace of God alone.
Prune every bud of self-righteousness, before you and others are forced to taste its bitter fruit.
I earnestly encourage you, today, to live a life that endeavors to set your mind on the things of the Spirit. Allow the Spirit today, through the grace of God, to increase your dependence on the one who has rescued your soul and be obedient to your calling.
PRAYER: Lord, I pray that you will reveal the roots of self-dependence, the buds of self-righteousness that we are harboring unaware. Show us how sensible it is to depend upon you. Empower us in our endeavor to live a life that is killing self-dependence and self-righteousness and glorifies you in all that we do. I pray this in the precious name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” John 10:27
My wife and I recently were in a local appliance store. As we perused our freezer options, a cowboy sauntered in from the back of the store. I say sauntered because that is exactly how he walked. His boots making the familiar clack-tap with each step on the hardwood floor. It seemed like a slow, relaxed echo from a saloon of the old-west.
As I turned, I saw exactly what I expected to see. The epitome of a cowboy -worn cowboy boots with a little manure clinging to the heel, Wrangler jeans, large belt buckle of rodeo origin, leather vest over a western shirt, a handle-bar mustache, and a dirty black cowboy hat.
I watched him make his transaction and he sounded exactly as I expected. He talked with the cashier in a slow, western drawl, about the weather, hunting, work to be done, and the superiority of cash to credit cards as he pulled two hundred dollars of twenties from his leather wallet.
“Now, there is a unique individual”, I thought but then I immediately wondered “is he?” Could he really be my personified ideal of an individual if I knew exactly what he would look and sound like? He was the epitome of cowboy; that is not unique.
In a society that idealizes the concept of individualism, I see few examples of truly unique individuals.
The images associated with these labels that flash through our brains are probably very similar. There are stereotypes for even those who many consider the most unique of our society.
It seems that there are few truly distinct individuals and I wonder the extent to which any human lives uniquely. Even the most unique among us still end up in some stereotypical flock. We often confuse individualism with genius or exceptionalism or independence. For me, the truly unique individual is the one who lives outside the imposed influence of society in general and his own neighborhood in specific.
Yet, is that even possible? More importantly, is that a state that should be desired?
I was recently watching some videos on birds flocking.
The mesmerizing movement of these flocks make it seem like an orchestrated control over the mass. Yet, we know that the actions are the agglomeration of each animal’s individual decisions based upon a local perception of their surrounding.
Science does not know how birds flock without sheer chaos and crashes. Wayne Potts studied birds flocking in 1984. He found that the turning of flock can spread from bird to bird three times faster than any individual bird’s reaction time. This suggests that there is not much thinking occurring within each individual bird as they fly along. They are most likely responding unconsciously to the actions around them.
The most interesting explanation of this phenomenon has come through the attempts to simulate flocking in computer animation. Craig Reynolds developed three rules that are still the basis of flocking simulations:
Avoid collisions with nearby flockmates
Attempt to match the speed of nearby flockmates; collisions are unlikely if the velocity of the individuals are similar.
Attempt to stay close to the nearby flockmates; there is a stronger influence of nearby neighbors than distant members of the flock.
I wonder, if we could achieve a broader perspective, whether the activities of man would appear more like the random motion of a flock’s unconscious decisions rather than a choreographed pattern of deliberated reason.
How many times have you wondered, “how did I get here”?
Just as a bird may be baffled by how it came to alight in a field miles from its origin, I often feel swept away from principles and priorities to find myself in a cultural landscape far from my origin. We are all influenced by friends and family. We are inundated by beliefs and values through education and entertainment. It seems as if norms are cast aside without much thought or consideration.
I’m baffled by where we often find ourselves.
I wonder if we humans are more influenced by the Reynolds’ rules of flocking than we care to admit. Soren Kierkegaard referred to it as being lost to the finite, which is mindlessly following social conventions. It is accepting the current paradigm of expectations without consideration. Consider the bird in a flock; that bird probably thinks that it is acting as an individual but it is really at the mercy of those around it. That bird has lost its individuality to the finite influences of the flock.
The scary part is that the bird doesn’t even realize what it has lost
– its individuality.
Let’s use Reynolds’ rules of flocking to evaluate the individuality of our personal decision making:
Are you conflict adverse? Will you go along with ideas or activities that you don’t agree with simply because you don’t want to offend or be excluded? If your first tendency is to subjugate your actions to those of others, then you might be flocking.
Do you simply accept the ideas of experts? Do you match the actions of those you respect because surely they have thought it through? If your tendency is to receive thoughts rather than think them, then you might be flocking.
Is your identity associated with affiliations? Do you follow along with the group for fear of being left behind? If you tend to move with your community even when it is turning away from core beliefs, then you might be flocking.
Every person who has bucked these rules have found themselves outside the flock. I think that the reason we see so few true individuals is due to the fact that living outside the flock is hard. In fact, I don’t think that we were ever meant to live outside the flock.
The problem is that we often choose the wrong flock.
I believe that we created flock. We were created to flock to God. We were meant to instinctively know and follow God. The problem arises when we substitute the voice of God with the voice of man.
The truly unique individual is the one following the voice of the Shepherd because only He truly knows each person in the unique personhood. True self is only found in relationship with God.
Let’s use Reynolds’ rules of flocking to consider what flocking to God might look like:
You avoid collisions with God. You know that sin causes conflict with the Shepherd. Therefore, you strive toward obedience to the will of God in your life. If your first tendency is to subjugate your actions to God, then you’re probably flocking to your Shepherd.
You match everything to the Word of God. You don’t simply accept the ideas of others but you examine those ideas to the scriptures to see if they are true. When you match your beliefs with the Bible, collision with God are unlikely and you’re probably flocking to your Shepherd.
You strive to stay close to the leadings of the Spirit. The Shepherd takes each of us through life with many meandering turns. If your tendency is to follow even when you don’t understand, then you’re probably flocking to your Shepherd.
The Church should be a conglomeration of truly unique individuals. It should be a beautiful flow of individuals, each participating from their unique personhood revealed through their relation to the Good Shepherd.
There should be a stereotypes for those who are in Christ – the image of Christ and the Fruit of the Spirit. Unfortunately, that is often not the stereotype that Christians are known for. The problem rises from the fact that too many who profess Christ are still lost in the finite and flocking to the mentality of man.
We, as unique individuals in Christ, have the continuous task of keeping our flocking instinct focused on the correct initiator. The hardest of all tasks is to recognize when we are quietly losing our self to the influences of the world rather than influencing it.
Living as a unique individual in relation to God is rare because it is hard.
Obedience to God will result in conflict with people.
You may be hated for your refusal to follow the flow of man. “…but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” John 15:19b But take heart, God has overcome the world!
We will always be secure.
Following the Bible as the inspired Word of God will result in being excluded.
You may be ridiculed for clinging to traditions or supposed doctrines of bygone days. “Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” Proverbs 26:12 But take heart, we have a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, the hope of those who through faith and patience
will inherit the promise – eternal life.
Following the path God has laid before you will result in periods of isolation.
You may find yourself abandoned and alone as others drift after the ideas of man. “I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.” Rev. 3:8 But take heart, we are never abandoned or forsaken. We are loved!
Living as a truly unique individual, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, will be hard but the promise of the joy set before us will be so worth all that we may have to patiently endure. Keep your eye on Jesus! He will never fail you.
PRAYER: Lord, help me to truly follow you and you alone. Help me to hear you voice. Show me where I am being influenced by the ideas and opinions of people. Enable me to resist my inclinations to go along with the flock. Give me strength to stand alone. Give me endurance to stay on course to the open door that you have laid before me. Help me to keep your word. Father, I want to imitate you. I want to be a reflection of your loving kindness. I want to embody the hope that you have given me. Lord, may all I do bring glory to your name. I pray this in the precious name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen
“The greatest hazard of all, losing one’s self, can occur very quietly in the world, as if it were nothing at all. No other loss can occur so quietly; any other loss – an arm, a leg, five dollars, a wife, etc. – is sure to be noticed.”
― Søren Kierkegaard
“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory!” Psalm 72:18-19
I have struggled for motivation to climb upon my bicycle while it is clamped into the trainer. However, I have to do something because the digits on my scale are continuing to increase inversely to the outdoors temperatures. I’ve sought may aids to curb the monotony of a cycling trainer; music, cycling training videos, Tour de France videos, sermons, audiobooks, and even stand-up comics. None has been able to keep me contentedly pedaling beyond 30 minutes.
However, I finally found my tonic for trainer tedium – Dark Matter.
My tonic is not the invisible matter constituting the majority of the universe. Mine comes from the Syfy channel. I got hooked on this story of a spaceship crew who awakens from stasis with no memory of who they are, what they have done, or why they are on board a mercenary spaceship.
I love a good story and if it is set in space, then it’s even better.
I saved watching Dark Matter as the carrot before my motionless bike. I easily pedaled through each episode as subsequent adventures revealed mysteries of forgotten pasts. I was actually starting to look forward to my time on that accursed contraption when it all came to an end.
The final episode of Season 1 successfully left me spinning on the edge of my saddle, wanting to know what will happen next. I went to click on Season 2, to spin through another episode, but made a stark discovery.
There is no Season 2.
I was done. I climbed off my bike and felt that familiar disdain for my next date with the trainer. I searched the internet to discover whether there was another season with a growing concern. I learned more about Dark Matter than I had intended. I learned about the actors and the production. I read reviews, both positive and negative. I was delighted to find that there will be another season but annoyed to know that it is only in production.
I even discovered the WordPress blog of Joseph Mallozzi – Josephmallozzi’s Weblog. He is the co-writer and creator of Dark Matter. He has a lot of behind the scene photos of the current filming of Dark Matter on his blog. I flipped through each post in my developing sense of fandom.
I learned that Dark Matter was originally a comic book that Joseph Mallozzi co-wrote. So, I did what any newly minted fan would do. I got on Amazon to see if I could buy one. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that the compilation book of all four comics should arrive in two days. I haven’t bought myself a comic book in three decades.
Don’t judge me, I’m a fan.
I find it interesting that I wasn’t really a fan of Dark Matter while Netflix held a trove of unwatched episodes.
It wasn’t until the streaming dried up that I even thought about the writer.
It wasn’t until the entertainment stopped that I began searching.
It wasn’t until I was forced to wait that I became a fan.
My reaction to Dark Matter reminded me of this quote from A.W. Pink.
I can testify to these dry seasons of the soul.
Most Christians will experience these periods of drought
if they follow Christ any length of time.
It is part of sanctification.
Have you ever wondered why we experience these periods where the river of God’s presence feels like it has dried up?
Some may say that these seasons are periods of preparation or testing or due to sin. I agree in part.
However, I wonder if dry periods are simply a process to make us into fans.
When I enter a dry period, I tend to think more about God. I confess that my thoughts often sound like complaints, “why is God doing this to me”, but my eyes definitely get focused back on Him.
When I feel spiritually lethargic, I tend to search more earnestly in His word. I start digging into the mysteries of God and realize that I am usually not even asking the right questions.
When I am waiting on God, I inevitably begin to ask myself, who I am waiting for, which brings me back to the Gospel, the wonderful treasure of the good news of Jesus Christ and I become more of a fan.
A dry period will inevitably
bring me to the glory of God.
It will make me a fan.
When I am a fully glorifying fan:
I am prepared to follow Christ in whatever He has called me to do.
I am ready to persevere through the suffering and trials that are before me.
I am willing to turn my back on the temptations of this world for the surpassing worth of my loving Savior.
The lukewarm Christian is a lukewarm fan.
Christians should be more enthusiastic than any of the fans in a sports stadium.
Our demeanor should clothe us as followers of Christ more than any avid comic con attendees.
Our homes should proudly display our fandom of the One.
We were created to be fans; we were created to worship.
A true fan should be easy to spot.
God wants us to be easy to spot.
God wants us to be true fans.
He is willing to take us through those dry periods to teach us that our fandom rests only in Him.
PRAYER: Lord, I pray that you will make me into a fan. Help me to want to join my voice with that of the Psalmist and declare your wondrous deeds in unabashed fandom. Help me to accept the dry seasons. Help to see that you are taking me to greater happiness. Father, do your work in me even when I am not fully cooperating. I pray this in the precious name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen
“More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5:3-5
I finally resolved to get on the trainer and spin.
For thirty minutes, I sat in the comfort of my couch, glancing into the adjoining room at the taunting image of my bike on the trainer. The passage of time persuaded me that if a workout was going to happen, I had to get started. So, I grumbled my way upstairs to change into some workout clothes thinking, “I just need to get this over with”.
Work clothes were quickly exchanged for cycling garb, a glass filled with water, and my new Surface Pro tablet tucked under my arm (I have taken to watching Netflix whileI spin; it helps to pass the time). I began my descent into my personnel pain cave, quickly shuffling down the stairs with my stocking feet.
About two-thirds down the carpeted stairs, my feet suddenly slipped from one stair run, skipped off the next, and in an instant my balance was emptied while my hands remained full. That would not last long. Water splashed in my face as my tablet was flung down the remaining steps. I crashed down on the steps, feet and arms in the air, without any time breaking my fall. A stair rung bearing deeply into my ribs under the brunt of my falling mass.
I must have rocked the foundation of the house because my wife and kids were at the bottom of the stairs by the time I slid to the landing, wondering what had happened.
I would not be going for a spin on that night.
My fall happened nine days ago. The carpet burns have healed nicely. However, my ribs are another matter. I had hoped that they were just bruised but as the days have passed, I have begun to accept that there might be more damage. A couple ribs may have been broken; not really broken but just cracked a little bit; probably just bruised deeply.
There are some things that no cyclist can resist, particularly those who live in areas that have real winters – a moderate day in December. We had just such a day, six days after my fall. It was perfect weather, no falling moisture, temperatures around forty degrees, winds moderate. Bruised ribs or not, I could not let this day slip by.
I left work early and soon had my tri-bike out on the rural roads near my home. I quickly discovered that my ribs were happy only in one position. Everything was pleasant, as long as I stayed down on my aero-bars. It was not nearly as pleasant entering and exiting the aero-position. As a result, I had one of my best rides since I stayed in the most aero-dynamic position for duration of the ride.
Sometimes not being able to assume our preferred position
forces us in the optimal position.
(That is me on a tri-bike, wet roads, taking a selfie with broken ribs.
I didn’t say it was a good idea, just an irresistible one.)
My ribs got me to thinking about suffering. I know how I fell down my stairs, but don’t know why. I don’t know why most bad things happen. However, the Bible consistently teaches that suffering is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, we are told that we should rejoice in our suffering. I am not very good at rejoicing in my suffering.
Yet, I wonder if suffering is similar to my cycling experience. Suffering forces us out of our preferences. Suffering forces out of our strengths. Suffering forces us out of our self-reliance.
Suffering forces us out of our preferred position and into the optimal position.
“Heartache forces us to embrace God out of desperate, urgent need.
God is never closer than when your heart is aching.”
~Joni Eareckson Tada
Anyone who has suffered, knows that it will force you down on your knees in reliance upon God and keep you there. What could be more optimal than that?
That optimal position will produce endurance, character, and hope. Those are all exceptional results – we just have to stay down to receive them.
“Suffering provides the gym equipment on which my faith can be exercised.”
~Joni Eareckson Tada
PRAYER: Lord, I pray that you will heal my ribs quickly. Help me to understand suffering. Help me to accept suffering in my own life and the lives of others. Father, do your work in us. Don’t leave us as we are. Create in us the hope that will not disappoint by the means that you choose. I pray this in the precious name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen
“More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5:3-5
Training has been done;
Miles have been logged;
Intervals accumulated;
Laps swum; and
Injuries avoided;
The sugar-plums of my dreams have been replaced by visions of the swim, bike, and run.
All that remains is to race.
The race for me is the Boise Ironman 70.3 that starts a mere 2 days from now. It would be a lie to pretend that I am not nervous. I have never raced this combination of distances. Therefore, the unknown of race day looms large in my mind.
I would like to have more time for a half-marathon run to be comfortable.
I would like to have done an open water swim this year.
I would like to have stacked a few more bricks.
Yet, all the things that I would like to have done, would not chase away the apprehension of race day unknowns I now feel. The challenge for a prepared racer is far less physical than it is mental. The body will perform how it has prepared. Muscles will pull and push to the levels they have been stretched. Lungs will exchange oxygen for carbon dioxide at their rate of capacity. Blood will carry all the essentials provided in order to accumulate miles at speed. An athlete’s body will perform in accordance to the training plan it has developed under.
The mind is the unknown.
What happens when you enter the pain locker?
What happens when the fun stops and adversity begins?
What happens when you feel like you have been punched in the mouth?
That is the test of the mind.
We all have a plan.
We all have visions of success.
Yet, the mind determines whether those plans will be abandoned in the face of adversity.
I think this may be why I am drawn to endurance events. I want to train my mind not to give up under adversity. I want the confidence that I will continue when the plan really matters. My race on Saturday does not really matter. There are no consequences for not finishing. I have no hope of winning. I won’t even be competitive.
The prize I seek from the Boise Ironman 70.3 is the realization that I can take a punch and still finish.
That is a prize that will reward throughout life. Life is full of adversity.
We will fail… be misunderstood… and ridiculed;
We will be disappointed… abandoned… and betrayed;
We will be attacked… face fear… and uncertainty;
We will make mistakes… experience loss…and know heartache;
We will be broken.
Any of these adversities can feel like a punch in the mouth. Suffering and trials can hit us so hard that we are willing to abandon our plan, even our first love, to gain relief. How can you be confident that you will endure all things when it really matters?
This is the prize of suffering.
It is why I will rejoice in the pain that comes from the Boise Ironman 70.3.
It is why I rejoice in all the suffering that I have endured.
I rejoice because I have learned that I can take a punch and won’t give up. Throughout my life, I believe that the Spirit of God has used those punches to produce in me a character of endurance. It is a character, grounded in faith, which gives me a confidence based in experience. It is that character that produces hope. I rejoice in that hope. It is this hope that will never put me to shame because God’s love has been poured into my heart through the Holy Spirit who has been given to me.
What about you?
Can you take a punch in the mouth?
Are you confident in your character?
What has your character produced?
I realize that endurance events are not for everyone. However, there are plenty of opportunities in life to train our minds not to give up. It is why sticking with the small things matter. They are all opportunities to train our mind – and that is a prize worth enduring for.
My hope for you is:
When it gets hard, you go deep;
When it hurts, you look beyond;
When it is inconvenient, you continue;
When others run away, you stand;
When you want to give you, you take another step.
My hope for you is that you will rejoice in all the adversities of your life…because they will produce hope.
That hope is a prize worth training for.
PRAYER: Father, thank you for what you have taught me in suffering. While I do not desire adversity, you have shown me the value it produces. Thank you for the character that you have developed in me. Thank you for the hope that will never disappoint. Lord, train me in those areas were I am prone to give up. Build within me a mental toughness to take a punch when it really matters and to continue to follow you. I pray this in the precious name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen
“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends. To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
In honor of Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who was born on this day in 1803.
“You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?” Galatians 5:7
I have six weeks to go until the Ironman Boise 70.3. Time has slipped past quicker on the calendar than the asphalt has passed beneath me since my decision to enter (The Agnostic will never be an Ironman). My training has been very consistent yet my time-on-legs has not accumulated as rapidly as I would have liked.
Two rules of thumbs have come to press me into an uncomfortable dilemma. I need to add running miles slowly to avoid injury. Yet, I need to begin tapering from my longest run, three weeks before race day so I will be fresh when it really matters. I have been adding one mile per week. If I get in a 10 mile run this weekend, then I can get to 13 miles over the next three weeks, just in time before I need to start backing off.
It will all work out as long as I stay on schedule.
However, the weather has not been cooperating with my schedule. This last week has been full of rain and wind that has completely kept me off the bike and has forced me to limit my runs. I look to the forecast of the weekend without much hope of a break in the weather. I need to get in a long run, but that will probably mean a miserable run in a cold, driving, rain.
My race day looms through the gloom of storms. The storm front will not push my race day back. I will either have to endure through uncomfortable training conditions or face the disappointment of not being ready on race day.
If a race did not occupy a spot on my calendar, I would not train in inclement weather. I would not go out in miserable conditions when they could be avoided by delay. I would not strive to improve at the expense of unnecessary discomfort. There is no need to endure the uncomfortable when there is plenty of time to train or there is no race on the horizon.
We train differently when we are in race mode. We have to demonstrate more self-control in our training when we are striving to do well in a race. Therefore, I will be going for a run this weekend. I hope it does not rain but I am resolved not to let the weather detour me from my goal.
The same is true of our spiritual training. We live differently when we are in race mode.
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)
We all have a day coming when we cross the finish line of life. Will we finish well? Are we striving to obtain the prize? The storm clouds of life will not push back our final day. That glorious day should loom through all the momentary gloom of daily cares.
Yet, I do not see a lot of folks living in race mode. The self-control of spiritual disciplines is quickly discarded at the hint of inclement conditions.
Evening prayers are shortened to accommodate late-night TV.
Comfort is sought in ice cream rather than our Savior.
Praise of men governs a prideful tongue. Charity is withheld in lieu of vacation.
Ministry is replaced by a nap.
Envy flourishes in the discontentment of loss.
Worship of flesh replaces praise of the Almighty.
Harsh words are not withheld due to unrestrained anxiety.
Morning bible reading is discarded for minutes of additional sleep.
It is easy for the cares of this world to throw us off our game. Self-control is difficult when the pressure and discomfort of a sinful will wars against our redeemed soul. It is easy to surrender to our sinful passions when we are living as if there is no finish line and cease to strive for the prize.
We do not live aimlessly. Our self-control is not in vain. We are following Christ in order to obtain the prize of eternal life. We are striving in our spiritual training to glorify the God we love and to enjoy Him daily. We say “no” to our flesh because we are in a race for the glory of God and we only have so many days to the finish line.
Let’s not waste a day of training. May we continue to follow Christ even when the world around us is miserable and we just want to stay in bed. The finish line is coming and none of us knows the day. What is hindering you from running well?
I think this video by John Piper, Make War, is excellent at describing the attitude we Christians should live in.
PRAYER: Father, keep me in race mode. Lord, help me to make war on my sinful flesh. Don’t let me be live like there will always be another day to glorify you. Help me to number my days. Give me the strength to follow you in the foulest of circumstances. Give me the perseverance to always strive forward in obedience regardless of what my flesh wants to do. I pray this in the precious name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen
“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Hebrews 10:24-25
I have entered the world of Strava. Strava is an app that tracks your running and cycling activity. It maps your route and calculates your average speed / pace and elevation gain. You can post those results to Strava and compare your activity to other athletes.
Strava (Photo credit: Patrick’s Velolog)
Upon joining this community, I have discovered that I am slower than I had thought. I have reviewed the top performers, the segment kings, of my cycling routes and marvel at some of the times posted. There are individuals out there performing at a whole other level than I am.
I ride these routes in my little individual world and feel really good about my fitness. My imagination conjures up fantasies of crossing finish lines and standing on podiums as I pedal away in solitude. It is easy to become over-confident in one’s abilities when you only perform in solitude.
My confidence was rattled a bit this weekend. I am planning, Lord willing, to compete in the Tour of Ontario cycling race next weekend. This weekend they had a pre-ride to allow local competitors to get familiar with the course. I tried to hang onto the lead group but got dropped on a corner about two miles into the road race course. I slowed a little too much through the corner and then did not have the legs to close the gap as the group accelerated away. Once a gap formed, the slight head wind made it impossible for me to catch them.
I hate getting dropped. I had an equal earnestness of wanting to catch the lead group and not wanting to be caught by the chase group. So, I tried to stay as aerodynamic as one rider can be and pedaled on. I ended up making the rest of the ride solo since I stayed in no-man’s land between the two groups.
When I finally finished the ride, I stopped the Strava app and was immediately prompted as to whether I wanted to record or discard the ride. I was tempted to hit discard due to my lackluster performance. I think of myself as a 20 mph average rider (I rarely hit that number so I don’t know why I have that expectation) but I had only averaged only 17.4 mph over the 32 mile route and had been dropped on top of that.
However, I sucked up my pride and hit record.
Later that day, I noticed several others from the pre-ride had posted their rides on Strava. They were from the lead group that I could not catch. I was surprised by the fact that none of them had average speeds over 20 mph. They had smoked me, but not by the degree I had thought. They had ridden in a group and I had gone solo. Maybe, I had not done as bad as I had thought.
I could never have put my ride into perspective if I had not been willing to suck it up and actually be part of a community. Being part of a community means that sometimes we will be embarrassed by our performance, but it also means that we can put our performance into perspective and be encouraged to push farther than we thought possible. It means that we are challenged by those who are stronger and we can encourage those who are weaker.
I know many folks live their Christian lives like a solo ride. They enjoy their spiritual experience but they don’t really share their personal relationship with God with their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. They keep their spiritual lives very private.
The problem with going solo is that we can convince ourselves that we are doing much better than we actually are. We can become over-confident and unchallenged to go deeper in our faith and we can never stir up our brothers and sisters in Christ to love and good works.
True Christian community means that we meet together and are transparent with those we can trust about all of our activity – the good and the bad – the embarrassing and the triumphant. It means that we are challenged by those who are following Christ to pursue greater love and good works and we encourage others to continue.
I know that there are times when we find ourselves in a spiritual no-man’s land and our path lead us through very solo stretches. I am currently on one of those stretches. However, that does not mean we accept the solitary Christian life as the norm; the norm should be community. We should not neglect meeting together in real, honest community. We should earnestly desire to be a part of real Christian community and not to be caught by the lackluster activities of former times.
We should appreciate it when we’re in it and seek it when we aren’t – you just might find it in very unexpected places.
PRAYER: Father, thank you for giving us community. Forgive me for having taken it for granted. Forgive me for not seeking it like I should. Lord, give me an earnestness to be a part of a Christian community that I don’t really feel at this time. I know that it is important. Sustain me through this period of solitude. Father, give me a community where I will be challenged and encouraged and where I can do the same for others. I pray this in the precious name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen
“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:8
I really wanted to go for a bike ride over the weekend.
I stepped outside and walked to the edge of the porch only to have a cold westerly wind change my mind. A few moments of gazing at the trees bending under an unseen load convinced me that I did not want to venture out into that kind of wind. So, I returned back to the serenity of indoors. I did this analysis three times before I rationalized my cycling kit on and grabbed my bike. I know that riding in the wind is not much fun, but I just wanted to get out of the house and get a work-out in.
The soundness of that logic was questioned throughout the first few miles of my ride as tree limbs bent into the roadway delivering a moaning question as to why I had ventured from my protective walls. I fought that wind for miles upon miles, grinding away in my smallest chainring, hoping to at least match my forward speed to that of the wind in my face. There was no escaping the relentless resistance of that wind since the route I had decided upon took me directly into it. I tried to stay low and ground away with each pedal stroke in anticipation of the turn.
The turn is when you pass the half-way mark and start to head home. Better yet, the turn would put my back to the wind on this day. I made my way with eagerness onto a road that would connect me to the turn. It also had the benefit of taking me out of the frontal assault of the wind. It was on this road that I felt the first few drops. In my battle with the wind, I had not noticed the dark clouds that now barred my return.
I summited the last climb before the turn with the full knowledge that I was going to get wet and this ride was going to get really miserable. The skies opened up on me as I descended to the turn. Water rolled off of my chin and down my back as my wheels spun a whisper of spray that appeared to double their size. I quickly lost all concern for wind as I made the turn, for my mind had shifted to the concerns of slick pavement and the hope of home. I dipped my head to keep the rain off of my glasses and grabbed a harder gear – I needed to get home. I focused on my cadence as I continued to work through my gear cassette until I could not shift anymore.
I was in my hardest gear and pedaling freely. I don’t know how fast I was going since my speedometer had quit, but I must have been tickling 30 mph. I rode like this for several miles, maintaining a speed on the flats that I could never hold by myself. The only reason I was being hurried home was because of the wind. That very same wind that I had fought all the way out, was now lifting me to a speed I could never do unaided.
That ride home was fun. The very same wind that had caused me such misery going out, provided great joy on the way home. In fact, wind transformed what normally is more miserable than a head wind, a cold ride in drenching rain, into an exhilarating experience that I will remember.
This love / hate experience with wind spurred my meditation of the workings of the Spirit of God in those who are His. I believe that there are times in our spiritual lives when we are walking directly into the resisting force of the Spirit that is intent upon changing our direction.
And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. (Acts 16:6-7)
I don’t know how the Spirit resisted Paul but it seems like Paul’s path became too difficult so he changed it. I believe that the Spirit still works that way. We just have to discern when to follow the guiding blow of the Spirit and turn out of the wind to the path of less resistance. That is not always easy to discern because the Spirit might have other purposes.
I believe that there are times when the Spirit blows in our face not to get us to change to direction but in order to strengthen us. The trials and temptations of our lives could simply be removed by the Lord, but often He does not. Frequently, He allows them because we need the work-out.
More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:3-5)
The Holy Spirit guiding us through suffering is evidence of God’s love for us. God loves us too much to leave us as spiritual couch potatoes. There are times when we feel resistance in our lives because the Spirit is blowing into our face in order to build endurance, which will produce character, and from that character will emerge God glorifying hope, and everyone needs hope to persevere to the end. In these instances, we should not turn from the path that we are on. We need to grind on. We need to get low and endure. We need to accept the love of God through our suffering.
We can accept our suffering as the love of God because we, by faith, know that the power of the Spirit is actually what is carrying us home. While the Spirit is allowing and guiding us through difficult times, it is also the Spirit who is powering us through those very same difficulties. It is because of the tail-wind of the Holy Spirit that we can endure longer than we could ever do unaided. It is because of the power of the Spirit that we can perform beyond our abilities.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (Romans 15:13)
Therefore, we are driven to hope when we grind into the Spirit’s head-wind and when we experience the powerful effects of the Spirit pushing us home.
I often don’t know where or how the Spirit is blowing in my life.
I find it difficult to know when the Spirit is guiding me to turn in a new direction or to grind on.
I regularly fail to realize the power that is pushing me forward as I labor to follow Christ.
I am quick to grumble about trials rather relishing all the joy and peace in believing.
However, the mysterious winds of the Spirit, in all their forms, are a blessing for those who are in Christ. The Spirit is our gift to help us through this fallen world.
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. (John 14:5)
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. Not as the world give do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. (John 14:26-27)
We never have to be discouraged or afraid. We have been given the Holy Spirit – our Helper. He is the One who will do all that is necessary to get us home – guide us in the right direction, build hope in our hearts, and carry us when needed. Praise God that we have not been abandoned. We are loved and cared for by our Helper who will be with us forever. Now, let’s go live our lives relishing all the joy and peace in believing.
PRAYER: Father, thank you for sending us our Helper. Thank you for the work of the Spirit in my life – guiding, correcting, stengthening, and sustaining me. Lord, teach me to rely upon your Spirit in all conditions. Teach me to live in your joy and peace. I pray this in the precious name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
have been reading a book by 
My next advice is associated with how to detect and fix these small problems in our lives, which leads me to another book I am reading, the 
My wife and I recently were in a local appliance store. As we perused our freezer options, a cowboy sauntered in from the back of the store. I say sauntered because that is exactly how he walked. His boots making the familiar clack-tap with each step on the hardwood floor. It seemed like a slow, relaxed echo from a saloon of the old-west.
A DEVOTED LIFE 