Every Experience is a Classroom

One of the biggest reasons I love sports is because each sport can teach you so much about life and so much about you as an individual.

Over the years I have really started to love running. I am by no stretch of the imagination a marathon runner and probably never will be but this sport teaches me so much on a daily basis. I work out three to four times a week and every time I am at the gym I run between 4 to 6 miles (sometimes a little more but I try my very best not to go under 4). There are some nights where I feel I could run forever and my mind and body are in complete unison. Those nights are pretty joyous for lack of a better word. Those nights inspire me and motivate me. Those nights shout loud and clear that my determination and hard work is paying off. However, there are some nights that really are just complete torture. My mind and body fight the entire time. Most of the time the fighting starts even before I get to the gym. I let different things discourage me. I let my mind defeat me before I even start. What makes these nights even better than the "mountain top" nights is what I learn through the torture... It's fighting as hard as I can through the valley so to speak...It's making it to the finishing point (which will always only be 4 miles on the torture nights)... It's striving to be better than I was yesterday even though it's harder than it was yesterday..... It's putting the verse "I can do all things through Christ" into action.... It's never giving up and never surrendering.... It's not taking the easy way out... It's torture that brings forth something pretty indescribable in the end.

As I run and go through the ups and downs this sport presents on a daily basis I cannot help but see the comparison to the Christian life. Running is such a personal sport. It's you against you... You finding what works for you and sticking to it... You trying to become a better you. The Christian life is so personal. It definitely has many ups and downs. Sometimes I feel I am on the mountain top. Everything seems to be in perfect unison and it is complete and utter joy just focusing on God for everything; feeling His presence in every detail of my life. However, sometimes it is the complete opposite. Everything seems so chaotic and the joy is hard to find. So many things discourage me, so many things strip me of happiness. My sinful flesh fights so hard and my focus gets blurred. So blurred sometimes I just feel like quitting. But it's during those times of complete torture... Those times were the devil pushes me to quit or take the easy way out that I must cling as hard as I can to God's truths. Cling to His Word. Cling to Him and Him alone. It's during those times that something beautiful happens. God always, always, always will go with me through the torture this life can bring. I am not alone and when I cling to Him and push through the valley I realize just how big my God is and I learn that there is nothing too hard for him and therefore I will not fear.

So even if you hate running and will never run unless something or someone is chasing you; I hope you learned that there is so many things in life that can teach you a lot about yourself and ultimately about God.

P.S. Another good one is water. The more you drink the more you want. The more you drink the more you realize just how beneficial it is for your mind and body. Just THINK ABOUT IT... I will let you make the comparison. Pretty good stuff...