Verse of the Week:
Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that He has promised. – Hebrews 10:36 (NLT)
Chapter 4 Video Links (From Her Green Room):
This week I have personally experienced what it means to need stamina in the physical sense. Walking around a hilly college campus with my sister and traveling from one apartment complex to the next looking for the right place for her to live as she starts the next phase of her life. I was tired, sweaty, and out of breath with aching legs, knees and feet! While I wanted to stop walking, to stop looking for just the right place, I kept going; but not without a few stops to rest and not without food and drink along the journey.
Stamina is the ability to sustain prolonged effort (whether physical, mental, or spiritual). So what does it take to sustain your efforts as you travel along the journey that God has for you? Jodi mentions four things in this chapter that can help keep us going along the journey.
The first is Camaraderie. Having someone with us on our journey is a great way to be encouraged to keep going. I know that without my sister walking with me this week, I would have stopped and not continued walking.
This has applied in my spiritual life as well. So many times I have been down to my very last ounce of hope in life. I have had days where I didn’t want to keep going. To be incredibly honest, there have been days that I couldn’t even get out of bed because of dealing with such a deep depression. The thing that helps me the most to get through those days and to keep going in life has been the Godly women that the Lord has brought into my life. Dear friends who continually encourage me to keep going! It has been those women who have been willing to stand beside me and sometimes behind me pushing me as I walk that have helped me through.
The second is Joy. I love what Jodi said about joy. She said, “I believe that God doesn’t intend all the pleasures to be waiting only at the end of our destinations; He sprinkles it all along the way. He knows how invigorating a little joy is in the middle of our labors and challenges.” Nehemiah 8:10 says the joy of the Lord is our strength. God not only wants us to have joy, it is a tool that He gives us to stay strong on our journey!
If you need help finding joy, find that friend that we talked about a minute ago and laugh with them until your face hurts! Seriously, good friends can bring so much light and joy into your life. I’ve had plenty of bad days turn around for the better just by spending some time laughing until I was crying with a good friend.
The third thing that can help keep us going along our journey is Stopping. That seems contradictory but it can make a big difference in our ability to keep moving forward. Like walking all over that college campus caused me to need to stop for a few minutes before I could keep walking, sometimes, we just have to stop and catch our breath.
Jodi mentioned Alicia Britt Chole’s book Ready, Set…Rest where she said, “God did not design us to live to the end of our abilities every day. We are supposed to have a buffer. If we live each day to the end of our rope, there is nothing left to hold onto when an unanticipated problem calls for something more.”
Make sure you are giving yourself a buffer. That buffer and stop along the journey can be many things. It could be a girls night out with a friend, a date night with your husband, a weekend away, or just a nice long bubble bath ALONE! Whatever you need to do to take a rest when you need to, do it. Don’t let your tank run on empty. If your tank is empty, your will stall on your journey instead of continuing on it!!
The last thing that can help us keep going is Hope. Hope is so important. When we have hope, we are putting our trust in the Lord. Romans 4:18-21 (NLT) says, “Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping – believing that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him, ‘That’s how many descendants you will have!’ And Abrahams’ faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead – and so was Sarah’s womb. Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever He promises.”
Hope is looking at our grim circumstances and believing that our God is bigger and that what He has waiting for us just over the horizon far exceeds what we are going through right now. It’s believing in the promises He has made to us, even if we are waiting for most or all of our life. It is trusting that no matter how long it takes, God will fulfill His promises to us and not wavering in our faith while we wait.
Discussion Questions:
- At what point (or circumstances) in your life have you needed stamina the most and why?
- The Bible talks about steadfastness and endurance – other ways to describe stamina. What do the following verses teach about these qualities?
- Romans 5:3-4
- James 1:2-4
- James 1:12-18
- Hebrews 10:35-36
- Hebrews 12:1-3
- Romans 2:6-7 says, “God will repay each person according to what they have done. To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, He will give eternal life.” Knowing that God sees your persistence and will reward your stamina, how does that make a difference in your ability to endure? What are some other biblical examples of stamina that was rewarded?
- Is there anything else about this chapter you would like to discuss or that stood out to you?
As a runner, I've learned ministry can be just like a long-distance race. When you're at the starting line, you all have that nervous excitement, big plans and strategies. At the start, it's easy to rally other people to get excited and join you. Then the gun goes off and you collectively start your journey. For the first few miles, others hang with you, still focusing on goal. Then comes a hill, a bit of a struggle in the journey, and many lose heart, don't have the endurance or the determination built up to continue through the hard times, and they drop back. By the middle of the race or the ministry, you often find yourself running the course alone and it's really easy to lose sight of the end game yourself, but then comes a water station, like the "sprinkle" of joy along the way. There are volunteers giving you a "Great job!" and "You got this." In a race, it's a cup of water or Gatorade and an energy supplement. Those are the people God puts along the path to encourage you, the women you can turn to for support. You leave that point feeling refreshed and can continue on your course of ministry. Then comes another hill and you're tired, physically and emotionally spent. You just want to stop, and so you walk a little bit or sometimes even move to the side and stand still. It's kind of like a dormancy period where you get discouraged because you feel like nothing is happening in ministry and like you're alone, but I've learned that those dormant periods, though disheartening as they may be, are where the energy gets conserved for the next big push, the next breakthrough! The stamina you've built up from continuing on through the hills, through the valleys, through the hard times when you've felt so alone, like no one else was on the journey with you any more, is what gives you the strength to hold your head up, put one foot in front of the other, and keep moving! Many times in a long-distance race and in my spiritual journey, I've repeated Hebrews 12:1-2 over and over. In fact, it's embroidered on all my race gear. I'm not going to lie, there are many times in a race along mile 10 or so and spiritually where I have quite literally said, "Okay, God, this is a good time for me to start hearing the trumpets sound because I am DONE." When you fix your eyes on the Jesus (the eternal finish line), it's so much easier to keep going. In the physical run, once I see a finish line, it's all I need for that push. I know what's at the finish line - rest and refreshment - victory! The same can be said for the eternal finish line, and that alone provides the stamina to keep going through all the trials and triumphs, highs and lows.
ReplyDeleteBethany that is such a wonderful example of stamina! The eternal finish line!! Definitely worth the effort to keep going!!
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