May your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts. (Ps. 119:173)
He thought this was going to be easier. Really, it had started as a bet, but it had lit some sort of internal fire in him he hadn’t experienced before. All of a sudden, the jump from the half to the full marathon was a distinct reality. Those first few weeks of training were invigorating and had gone so well. But now, with the race on the horizon, it seemed as if he were hitting a wall. He just couldn’t break through the 19-mile barrier, and he was feeling more discouraged than ever.
The physical issues he was dealing with were frustrating, to say the least, but the emotional ones were even worse. Internal voices told him to quit. Even some of the external voices he hoped would cheer him on were extending permission to give up. Maybe he wasn’t built for this.
As we grow in our faith, God often calls us into increasingly difficult seasons. And sometimes the hurdles in front of us seem as though we will never be able to overtake them. We will be tempted to take the easier road or to stop altogether. But God’s promise is that he never abandons us to face our challenges alone. When we choose to follow him, he gives us both the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
Depend on the Lord to strengthen you to do his work today.
Elizabeth Rhyno is passionate about seeing people spiritually formed in worship. Wife to Scott and mom to three awesome teens, Elizabeth sees life as a joy journey.
© 2019 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission.
