Training Ground

“Strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.” (Hebrews 12:12 NIV)

Marathoners know that running 26.2 miles on race day is not as hard as the training that precedes it. Endurance takes time to develop. Each training cycle consists of incremental increases in weekly miles, long runs, speed work, and hill repeats. It takes months of consistent discipline to strengthen muscles, enhance cardiac output, improve VO2 max, practice fueling while running, and figure out how to prevent chafing from the inevitable friction of clothes and shoes. Unlike race day, training days have no cheering crowds, medals, or glory. Yet, it is these days of hard effort and dedication that lead to strength. The actual marathon merely reveals how well you have trained. 

“We presume that we would be ready for battle if confronted with a great crisis, but it is not the crisis that builds something within us—it simply reveals what we are made of already.” (My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers)

It is not adversity but our response to it which develops strength. Consistent practice is the essence of training. Feeble faith and weak worship is a recipe for defeat. We cannot learn to use swords in the midst of battle. Unless we learn to acknowledge, trust, and depend on God on easy days, we will not be able to do so during a crisis. Discipleship requires discipline. A strong faith is developed over time. Crises are simply tests that reveal how well we have trained. Let us not wait for trials to build up endurance, but allow adversity to reveal our existing strength.