Go the Distance

I wonder how many people could have realized their dream if they simply stuck with it and did not loose hope and throw in the towel. Paul Dietzel, former head coach of LSU, said, "You learn more character on the 2 yard line than anywhere else in life." He's got a point. When you're on the 2 yard line you’re either about to score or the other team is about to score on you. But sometimes (more often then we want to admit) we give up or give in. Ask yourself: How many unfinished books do we possess - how many unfinished projects around the home or office or workplace? How many people are just a few classes short of a degree, or just a few blocks short of finishing the wall or some more effort to finish the painting or the poem and the list goes on and on. Sometimes in desperation we feel as though we are at the end of our rope and can no longer see or feel what hope looks like. Insecurity or weariness arise and crush our confidence, shreds our dreams, and will cast a very dark shadow of doubt over what we want to be or do in your life. The temptation to quit, to surrender, to just stop trying is all around us. We may run out of time, money or energy or we just don’t think moving forward will be worth it. However, when the urge to quit is at its strongest, this is when success is just a very short distance away. At the 2 yard line the heat is turned up, and sometimes the soundtrack begins to play – “you are not enough to do this, or you don’t deserve to move forward.” A friend of mine who is a life coach often asks people: “How badly do you really want it?” “Do you want it so badly you are willing to make adjustments in your life that may be uncomfortable or inconvenient?” As we expand our auditorium and another building project is in the works. I can honestly say it makes for extra mess, inconvenience, numerous decisions and of course expense. But when done it will allow us to accommodate our growing congregation and have additional room to welcome new families and friends who have yet to come and hopefully more people will meet the Savior. The buildings will be a statement of God’s blessing upon us and also a statement of the dedicated, generous and committed people that attend here. The second project will more than likely begin just a few months after this one is completed. Sometimes life works just that way - just when you think the break is coming, another hill is up ahead. But don’t give up, rather keep the goal in mind and pursue it. If you are reading this and you feel like giving up, ask God for His help. Call upon Him for strength and then pick yourself up. Think about how good it will feel when you cross the finishing line. Think not only about how good it will feel to finally accomplish your goal, but think about how good you are going to feel about yourself for finishing. I have a young friend who just told me how well she is doing in school. She is really applying herself and it is making a huge difference. I asked her “how it feels, not to get the grades you are getting but to know you are applying yourself and giving it your all?” She stated how “pleased she was with herself” and shared a goal she has with me. But she did not need to say a word because I could see the sense of accomplishment in her eyes as we spoke. When you feel like giving up, this is the time to reach out to God for help and then reach down deep into your soul. Shut off the sound track and replace it with a new tune. That's when it's time to dig in. At the 2 yard line you find out whether you have the fortitude to push the rest of the way through to the end zone and/or make a last minute stand against defeat. "Let us not become weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." (Galatians 6:10 KJV) You may be on the two yard line now -- advancing toward success or staving off defeat. Unlike football, in life it's possible to be both places at once. Take a look at the challenges you're facing today. What do you need to do? Push a little harder in one area? Stand a little stronger in another? Keep doing well and accomplish what you have been called to do. Go for it and step up and out - don't let fear grip your heart. You can do it. See you on the field.
Keep going,
Pastor Bernie
PS: Allow me to add a great story I have used in a sermon before:
Long after the crowd had left and the cameras had moved, a lone runner entered the stadium to complete the 26-mile-long marathon in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. Injured earlier in the race during a fall, he stumbled along, more than an hour after the others had finished. Hurling himself to the finish line, John Stephen Akhwari of Tanzania finished dead last. But before you judge him as a loser, take careful heed of the words he uttered when asked why he did not quit earlier when he had been injured:
“My country did not send me 7,000 miles to start the race. They sent me 7,000 miles to finish it.”