Welcome to my entire cross country experience.
You run, run, run until you can't run anymore. sweat pouring down your face, legs numb, and you have almost no control over your body (girl runners you know what happens after a long hard run lol). What's that up there? SAND. Oh you got to be kidding me. ARE THEY TRYING TO KILL ME? Then you see the finish line in sight, but how will you ever make it? Especially in that relentless Florida sun. It has no mercy. You grit your teeth and forge on, quitting is not an option, ever.
Sometimes I feel like being a Christian is like running a race. A race that lasts your entire life. Lots of twists and turns, different paths, really challenging moments, and parts that feel like a breeze. But sometimes life brings you down and it feels like it is impossible to finish the race.
What if I told you God is bringing you down?
GASP!
Before you stop reading this, hang with me for a sec.
Whatever pain that you are going through is designed for your betterment. I know you have heard this saying before, and most likely when you least wanted to hear it, "God gives His toughest soldiers His hardest battles." Ughhhhhh.
I hate when people tell me that. Mostly because I know it's true. And partly because I know God is testing me, preparing me for an even tougher situation. While it is easy to get overwhelmed by the thought of this, we need to find comfort in His Word. 1 Corinthians 10:13 states God will never give us anything we can't handle. Sidenote: He gives us situations that are beyond OUR human realm of reach, but with God anything is possible. We have the resurrection power inside of us. So all those haters nagging about how God gives us situations we can't handle to make us fail, back off. He gives us situations just out of our reach so that we have no choice but to rely on Him to complete it. *Stepping off soapbox*
Many times we are faced with extremely tough situations. Ones where we feel like there can be no end. (Similar to a Florida cross country practice in the dead of summer) God sometimes brings you down to test you. To build your character, to strengthen you for opportunities down the road. During that time of spiritual "testing" it is important to surround yourself with people who are going to build you up. Your team. In cross country your team is basically your family. When you feel like quitting and start slowing down there is always, and I mean always someone there encouraging you to press on. They never make you feel weak for wanting to stop, they encourage you to just do one more mile and then you can rest. They push you a little more than you think you can do. Spiritually that is what you need too. You need that group of friends or family that pushes you to do a little more than you think you can do.
Also you need to seek after God more than normal. You need to be diving into your Bible, praying and just physically seeking after God. I know when times get tough I am guilty of laying down the Bible and trying to take matters into my own hands. Instead of doing what I do, we should be seeking after God more and putting matters into our own hands less. Letting go of control is hard.
So when we see signs of adversity in our life we should stop seeing them as a burden, but as an opportunity to better ourselves in our spiritual walk. ( I know, I know, it is easy to say now!) When God gives us times in our life when we just don't feel like we can finish the race, we need to remember the reason we feel like that is because God loves us very much. He love us so much that He will NOT allow us to rely on our own strength, but rely on His instead.