This past weekend I had the incredible opportunity to go up to Big Bear with my college group and get away and dive into this topic of Endurance. Our main point was suffering leads to endurance, endurance leads to the character of your faith, and that leads to hope. The first session that we had, we talked about what endurance is and what God’s Word tells us about enduring. There are two main ways of dealing with suffering, one is to run away from suffering to some form of pleasure and the other is to push right through it. I thought about this a lot and I tend to put my head down and push through whatever is going on. In Romans 5, Paul tells us to rejoice in our suffering. Endurance is not our ability to pick ourselves up and keep going, rather it is the unwavering faith that God will pick us up, and know that He is at work in the midst of our pain. We don’t have to be strong, because our God is strong enough for us. We don’t have to put a smile on our face and hide the fact that we are hurting inside. We can go to our God, crying, and praise Him because we know He is at work in our life.
The next morning I got up early and walked in the snow to have some quiet time. I found a swing (which happened to be covered in ice that melted as I sat there, making me even colder) to sit on and think about the previous night. I was reading through Romans 8:25-28 and was reminded that even when we can’t think of what to pray, when we hurt and have no idea how to pray for what we are feeling, the Holy Spirit is interceding for us, pleading with God on our behalf. And the awesome thing about that, is the Holy Spirit knows every part of our hearts and knows God’s will for us, so the Holy Spirit knows exactly what to pray for in that moment.
It was such a great weekend to come together as a community, play in the snow (because we are from southern California and never see snow, so when we do, it’s a big deal!), compete in the 1st Annual Well Snow Olympics, and adventure in God’s beautiful creation. This weekend was a weekend for rest, fellowship, learning and strengthening relationships. It’s an important reminder of how much we need community and what a difference a good support group can make in your life.
From the time I was accepted into the World Race to now (and probably until I leave) I think about how everything relates to the World Race and how God might be equipping me for this journey. On the World Race, I will face trials and pain. Just the fact that I’m leaving my family for 11 months is crazy. I’ve never been away from home for more than a month. Another problem I know I’ll face is the fact that I can’t go a month or two without getting sick. I will get sick while on the field and that’s a scary thing to think that I will be ill in a foreign country (I think that might scare my mom more than myself). But I know that this journey will strengthen my endurance, my ability to trust God in crazy situations, and that leads to a more authentic faith which brings hope.
“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope in salvation.”
~Romans 5:3-4~
