While creating my new blog, there were a few decisions that I needed to make. I needed to decide on the domain name for my blog. I needed to decide on the design of my blog. And I needed to decide on a name for my blog.
The domain name was easy. People already have familiarity with http://pastormikebrown.blogspot.com. I simply took this domain name from "such is life." and created a new one for that blog.
The design of the blog was also easy for me. Why was it so easy? Because I tend not to be to picky when it comes to design. Maybe I should be, but I'm not. I looked through some of the design templates and settled on one that didn't come across to me as girly or hidious.
The name of the blog was the one that took a little more thought. I tinkered around with a few different names including, "i surrender.", "my life surrendered.", "seeking more depth" and things of that vein. You see, while blog designs don't mean much, names are important to me. Names define the blogs and give them character. I wanted to choose a name that had meaning to me. That's when I was reminded of a phrase that I felt God gave me a while back: "in His strength. for His glory." I thought it would be worthwhile to discuss it's significance to me.
After running track and cross country in high school and playing soccer my freshman year of college, I became lazy. With the exception of a few jogs with my then-girlfriend/now-wife, I stopped running. A few years ago, God started challenging me on my laziness (and gluttony as they went hand-in-hand). Within a month or so, I had a renewed passion for running. I couldn't believe I had ever stopped. Running felt so right to me. After not much time of running again, I made a big decision: I was going to finally fulfill a goal of mine from when I was a teenager and run a marathon.
I trained all spring and summer and into the fall. I didn't train as much as I should have, but I did train. In October of 2009, I completed the Cape Cod Marathon. I didn't complete it in the time I was hoping for, but I fought through a lot of adversity that day. The biggest positive for me was that I was able to raise a good chunk of change for a cause I care about: Speed the Light.
After hibernating for the winter, I began running again the following March. I contemplated running another marathon, with the hope of improving on my time over the 26.2 mile run. I decided that if I did run another one, I would not attempt to raise any money through it. I had two reasons for this decision: 1. I had already asked people the year before and didn't want to annoy anyone by asking again; and 2. if I wasn't raising money, I would have an out if I wanted one. While at a retreat that spring, however, I felt like God was speaking to my heart. I felt like God was showing me that my motive for running wasn't pure. Instead of running for the personal accomplishment of a pr (personal record), I felt that I should be running for God. This meant raising money for missionaries through Speed the Light again.
I ramped up my training in preparation for a second marathon. My problem the first time around was that I didn't train hard enough. It was easy for me to come up with excuses for why not to run during the week. I basically only did my weekend runs (which were the long runs) and was fine with that. This time around, I refused to make that mistake again. As firm as I was in this refusal, however, I realized that I could not avoid repeating that mistake on my own. I recognized that I needed God's help. So, as I ran, I began praying more and more that God would enable me to persevere.
During one of my prayer times as I was running, I felt like God gave me this motto: "in His strength. for His glory." God reminded me why I could run and why I was running. I could not run in my strength, but in God's. I was not to run to improve my time, but to give God glory by supporting missionaries and proclaiming His name.
Very quickly I started adopting that motto for my entire life. Everything I am, everything I do needs to be in His strength and with the purpose of bringing Him glory. As yesterday's blog post pointed out, I still forget this truth sometimes. This is why I want to be a good steward with all that God has given me. So I can bring Him glory. And I can only offer good stewardship when I rely on His strength.
There were many occasions when I wanted to quit. There were runs when I felt like I couldn't take another step. But with this motto in mind and on my heart, I pressed on. God enabled me every time. I completed the Hartford Marathon in October 2010. I cannot tell you how many times I was reminded of the motto "in His strength. for His glory." during the run that day. And, though a pr was no longer my goal, I shaved over 1 hour off my previous time. Praise God!
I heard an illustration recently using statistics from Walter Payton's football career. It really ministered to me when I heard it and fits appropriately with this post, so I want to share it with you. Instead of using the stats from Walter Payton's career, however, I am going to alter it by using the stats from Emmitt Smith's:
Emmitt Smith is a hall-of-fame running back who played the majority of his career for the Dallas Cowboys. I was a huge Emmitt Smith fan growing up. It was because of him and Troy Aikman that I had a Cowboys' Starter jacket and a Cowboys' ball cap. Emmitt Smith is the NFL's all-time rushing leader with 18,355 yards. This number equates to just over 10.4 miles. I have run 26.2 miles twice, so 10.4 miles is no big deal (this is actually a pretty easy run for me these days). What's amazing about the 10.4 miles that Emmitt Smith ran over the course of his career, however, is that he was knocked down every 4.2 yards, or .002 miles of it. This means that Emmitt Smith was knocked down 100 times for less than every quarter mile, or less than one lap around a track! Could you imagine getting knocked down 100 times before finishing one lap around a track? Would you persevere for the nearly 41 laps you had left? What a picture of perseverance!
There are two things I think we can take from this illustration: First, Emmitt Smith never could have amassed 10.4 miles without ability. Second, Emmitt Smith never could have gotten back up every .002 miles without perseverance, driven by a purpose. And for me, that ability is "in His strength." and that purpose which drives me to persevere is "for His glory."
How about you? Do you persevere when things are tough or do you quit? If you struggle to persevere (and believe me, I struggle to persevere through life's battles at times), maybe you need to assess if you have a purpose driving your perseverance. Or maybe you need to assess if you are relying on your own ability. Although we all face different struggles, the one thing that remains constant for all of us is that God wants us to trust Him for the strength to make it through and desires to receive the glory once we do.
in His strength. for His glory.
