This week at my meal group, bible study, we discussed endurance and what it means to run the race with endurance and what the purpose is of running the race.
At first, what came to my mind was a personal example. This is an example of emotional endurance. I really am bad at sports, but I love playing. Every year at our school in Cambodia we had a athletic day (track and field day) and of course I always got last place in every race. I would often get encouraged by teachers, peers, and parents to finish the race, though many times I didn't want to, or felt the need to, cause I was last anyways. But I always finished those races.
Backing up a little. In sophomore year of high school, I joined all three sports offered at our school. Basketball, volleyball, and soccer. It was an emotional endurance because, I was an anchor in the team, at least that's how my teammates saw it. I could've easily quite, but I didn't because I loved what I was doing and I couldn't let my teammates control what I did or not. It took a little while to get to that place because in 8th grade and as a freshmen, I stuck to just volleyball, because I was the best at that sport. It was worse when I had my sisters on the same team. They have a competitive spirit which is bad because it helps bring the team to victory, but I didn't have that. I played for fun, and it was the only thing that kept me fit. There were conflicts between interests and different goals. I would get 'why do you do the sport you know you're not good at?' and 'oh, please don't mess up.' and more. I endured it, because I was encouraged through my coaches that I did belong to that team and to not pay attention to those comments. Though hard to ignore, I got stronger and I will do a sport I love even when I am told not to. Even through this God had richly blessed me. At the end of that year I won the sports award for the class, as there's only one per grade. I had also received the Gwen Coventry award, which was the highest award at our school given to 1 boy and 1 girl throughout high school. It was based on character and student leadership. It was insane to think that, out of all the athletes they could've chose from, they chose the least athletic.
I found a verse in Romans. Romans 5:3-5 "Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." Reading this was encouraging, because those award didn't show my athletic abilities, it showed my character, which was shown through the endurance.
I don't mean to be prideful or arrogant. I'm simply sharing my story of God's grace and how I ran with endurance and purpose in that era of my life. I hope this can bring encouragement, because knowing that you aren't the only one going through a situation brings encouragement and hope.
God Bless
At first, what came to my mind was a personal example. This is an example of emotional endurance. I really am bad at sports, but I love playing. Every year at our school in Cambodia we had a athletic day (track and field day) and of course I always got last place in every race. I would often get encouraged by teachers, peers, and parents to finish the race, though many times I didn't want to, or felt the need to, cause I was last anyways. But I always finished those races.
Backing up a little. In sophomore year of high school, I joined all three sports offered at our school. Basketball, volleyball, and soccer. It was an emotional endurance because, I was an anchor in the team, at least that's how my teammates saw it. I could've easily quite, but I didn't because I loved what I was doing and I couldn't let my teammates control what I did or not. It took a little while to get to that place because in 8th grade and as a freshmen, I stuck to just volleyball, because I was the best at that sport. It was worse when I had my sisters on the same team. They have a competitive spirit which is bad because it helps bring the team to victory, but I didn't have that. I played for fun, and it was the only thing that kept me fit. There were conflicts between interests and different goals. I would get 'why do you do the sport you know you're not good at?' and 'oh, please don't mess up.' and more. I endured it, because I was encouraged through my coaches that I did belong to that team and to not pay attention to those comments. Though hard to ignore, I got stronger and I will do a sport I love even when I am told not to. Even through this God had richly blessed me. At the end of that year I won the sports award for the class, as there's only one per grade. I had also received the Gwen Coventry award, which was the highest award at our school given to 1 boy and 1 girl throughout high school. It was based on character and student leadership. It was insane to think that, out of all the athletes they could've chose from, they chose the least athletic.
I found a verse in Romans. Romans 5:3-5 "Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." Reading this was encouraging, because those award didn't show my athletic abilities, it showed my character, which was shown through the endurance.
I don't mean to be prideful or arrogant. I'm simply sharing my story of God's grace and how I ran with endurance and purpose in that era of my life. I hope this can bring encouragement, because knowing that you aren't the only one going through a situation brings encouragement and hope.
God Bless
