I remember being in college and a couple of my friends wanting to go out to the track at school and run some laps. This in no way sounded appealing to me. I am lucky enough to still get by without ever really exercising, and running long distances sounds about as fun as going to the dentist. Reluctantly I decided to go but knew that this just wasn't for me. I would just go out and have some fun. I went walking down to the track to meet my friends and strolled in with some athletic clothes, running shoes, and my 32oz Dr. Pepper. Yes, probably not the best thing to take with you when you are running, but I lived off that stuff in college. They thought it was pretty funny and proceeded to ask, "What are you doing with that thing?" I simply responded, "I'm gunna drink all of it."
They did a quick stretch and we took off down the track. I did however set down my Dr. Pepper, knowing that I would soon return. I started out just find and wanted to keep a quick pace to get this running stuff over with as soon as possible. I rounded the first corner and was feeling great. My legs were moving one after the other, my arms pumping. I looked like a runner. I however, knowing my current athletic state, knew that it would not last. Second corner came and went and when I got to the third all the joys that people find in a good run seized to exist. I started breathing pretty hard, and asked myself why I even came out in the first place. My legs started to feel weak and I sucked down as much air as I could get as I rounded the last corner.
My friends had completed their warm up lap and I made the decision that one lap is all I needed. I made it to the grass where we started, collapsed on my back, grabbed my Dr. Pepper and sucked it down like it was the living water. My friends, laughing their heads off, continued on their jog and got some great entertainment out of my suffering.
I did not have the thing that I needed to continue. I did not have the endurance to keep running. And without endurance, there is no way that you can ever be a runner.
Endurance is a necessity in life, especially in the Christian life. Jesus was very clear that life would not be easy for those who follow after Him. He assured that times will be tough, that it will be easier to quit the race and run to the sidelines, but when we depend on him for our endurance, we are able to continue on, even when we ourselves do not have the means, energy, or the determination. Our determination must be simply to rely on Christ and not to complete the race ourselves.
I came across this verse in Galatians recently and was uplifted by what Paul had to say.
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
(Galatians 6:9 ESV)
Raising teens, volunteering and trying to lead teens are tiring jobs; jobs that take lots and lots of time to ever see results. As we try to teach our teens and students about faith, about making right decisions, about depending on God, and about living out what they believe, it is more than easy to get discouraged. Time after time, they will not do what they have learned they should, they will not want to listen to us, or they will keep making the same mistake over and over. The only thing that pays off is endurance on our part as parents, mentors, and leaders. We must never give up, we must never write them off, but we must have the endurance to continue through the seasons. If we do not give up and find our endurance in Christ, then in due season we will reap. And the reward will be seeing your students or teens make that right decision, to apply what they learned into a real situation and simply to "get it." To get what a relationship with Christ is all about.
Let us not grow weary - Jared Scheppmann
