Every endurance athlete knows what it’s like to persevere. I
think back to my experience with
running Javelina Jundred, a 100 miler in the
McDowell Regional Park in Fountain Hills, Arizona and how perseverance came in
to play. When you’re out on the course and it’s getting tough and everything
hurts, it’s dark, you have blisters, you’re tired and you still can’t see the
finish line, you know you’re no where near being finished. You want to quit,
but you know if you do, you won’t get the prize of being a finisher and having
that sense of accomplishment. Nobody who signs up for a race wants to quit,
it’s that last thing from our minds. They don’t stand at the finish line and
think, I’m just going to quit. We know what it takes to get through those times
when it’s tough and it no longer feels good. But we keep putting one foot in
front of another, keep on believing, and keeping our spirits up. We’ll get
through our suffering with a little confidence and a lot of hope. I like James
1:4 from the amplified Bible. It says, “But let endurance and steadfastness and
patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be perfectly
and fully developed, lacking in nothing.” When I think about my relationship
with God, I want to do His Will. I know that He has a great plan for me that is
uniquely for me and I know that ultimately I will be happiest if I say yes to
His will and His plan for my life. I think about some of my struggles that I
have in my personal life and I don’t give up when times are hard, I try not to
complain when things aren’t going the way that I like them to. I keep my eyes
on God, I choose to rest in Him and I thank Him for all that He’s doing in my
life. God is a restorer, so I thank Him for the work that He is doing and the
peace that He has given me. If I’m in God’s will, if I go to Him when things
are hard and give thanks continually in the good and bad times, resting in Him
and thank Him for all His wonderful gifts and blessings, I lack nothing.
