Dependence
At a week long Athletes in Action summer camp, I
participated in a little thing called the SPECIAL. All of the letters stood for
something, I think, but I have no idea what. In my own words, the SPECIAL was
death by sports.
Having no idea what lay ahead, we broke into teams of six,
packed a suitcase full of snacks. The men on my team insisted on packing a jar
of pickle juice. Pretty sure I’d rather be dehydrated than drink a jar of
pickle juice. Regardless, we began our 20ish hour adventure, pickle juice in
hand.
Here’s a quick little rundown of the events that transpired.
(Numbers are approximations):
6 games of sand volleyball
6 games of ultimate Frisbee
Push up relay (over 100 attempted push ups per person)
15 games of tug of war
6 full court basketball games
Relay races in the swimming pool
A written test over everything we’d learned all week
An hour of prayer (it was about 2 or 3 am at this point…)
A 3-mile obstacle course that involved pushing a car, army
crawl, a 400 while carrying a friend on your back, etc.
Relay races
6 games of kickball
And last but not least, the Jesus run. (You run a half-mile
down a mountain with a 2×4 and then run back up with the 2×4 across your
shoulders as if you were on the cross).
Now… between every event there were sprints. If you were a
sub, you were doing lunges or stairs. If you switched innings in kickball, you
had to run around the field first.
About the time we hit the basketball games, I was done. My
energy was completely gone. It was in this moment that I learned what it meant
to physically depend upon God for strength. I’d been an athlete my entire life
and had never needed God’s strength because I’d always been able to operate on
my own. It wasn’t until I had depleted every ounce of energy I had on my own
that I was able to truly give myself over to God and allow Him to carry me. And
you know what? I made it. I finished, and I finished strong, but only due to
His strength.
Physical dependence upon God? Check. But how do you learn to
emotionally rely upon God? If you have to reach your end before dependence… how
do you get there emotionally?
Easy. Go on the World Race.
Yes. The Race has been the single most amazing experience of
my life. But, it’s been the most emotionally draining adventure I’ve ever
experienced.
It’s currently month 10. Which means we’ve had 10 months of
daily feedback where we pour out our emotions to each other. We’ve had 10
months of experiencing poverty first hand. We’ve had 10 months of no alone
time. We’ve had 10 months of praying for the sick. 10 months of living in the
dirt. 10 months of working on relationships. 10 months of fighting through all
of the pain and hurt from our pasts. 10 months of God revealing one area after
another that we need to grow in.
And just like the SPECIAL, we are completely drained. We are
emotionally empty. Yet… we still have a month and a half left. And I wouldn’t
have it any other way. Learning to physically depend upon God was one of the
most profound lessons I’ve ever learned. Why would I think emotional dependence
would be any less? Besides, the living water of God is a little easier to
swallow than pickle juice when I’m thirsty.
