I walked six days last week – Sunday through Friday. If you live near me you will know that we experienced a wide range of weather during that stretch. Sunday it was about 60 degrees and sunny. It got colder and rained. It got colder and snowed.
One morning late week I was anticipating it being about 20 degrees and too cold for me to walk. It looked too cold out. It was gray and snowy. However, the temperature was actually hovering around 30. It was a rare day when I actually didn’t want to go out and walk in it. Spoiler alert, I layered up, ignored the snowflakes and went anyway.
As I walked I noticed a real defining place in the sky. There was a distinct line where one side was blue sky and the other was dark clouds. The sun was just about to peak over and chase the dark cloud away. The word that came to mind in the moment was breakthrough. The sun was breaking through. My perseverance was about to be rewarded with sunshine. It came out. The rest of my walk, while still cold, was with a bright blue, sunshiny sky.
I almost let the snowflakes throw me off track and keep me inside that day. I’m glad I didn’t. Not only did it turn out to be a perfectly fine day for walking, God put this post on my heart. I love it when He does that. Friends please don’t give up when it looks hard. Don’t quit when it IS hard. We don’t know just how close breakthrough might be. The clearing might just be steps away.
In 2 Chronicles 15:7 we’re told, “But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.”
Now wait. I know what you’re thinking. “If only it were that easy. But you don’t understand how hard it is. You don’t know what I’m going through. You’re not in my shoes. You don’t know how long I’ve already been hanging on.” I understand those thoughts because I’ve thought them, too. You’re not alone in this, friend. Maybe your current hard issue is different than mine, but we each have them at different times in life.
In fact, as I walked on that day appreciating the sun despite the cold wind stinging my face, I found myself telling God that while I understand His point, sometimes I get really tired and weak and thoughts of giving up start to overwhelm. I mean how much longer until I get a breather? Sometimes there’s just too much to do. Sometimes it’s just too heavy. Sometimes it just seems like the cloudy days are following us around.
When I get to my last mile, especially inside a half mile, I often like to run. That’s not true. I don’t like to run – ever. I choose to run because I like to finish strong. I’m not supposed to run (bad knees), but I desperately want to finish stronger than I started. Running the last stretch always makes me dig a little deeper and well, my soul seems to thrive on that.
That day as I started running I thought about how strong my legs are. The consistency of walking pretty much day in and day out for the last few years means you can now feel the muscle even when I’m at rest. With every step, I thought about that strength and how I knew without a doubt that it was enough. It also distracted from my breathing, which is really hard to do when you run in the cold. I was focused on my strength, not my weakness.
Do I need to repeat that? I was focused on my strength, not my weakness. Friends do you know how much easier it is to not quit when you’re focused on where your strength is coming from? When I’m walking, running or doing any hard thing, narrowing in on how capable I am of actually completing the task, gives me the strength I need. I’ve always heard that running long distances is mostly mental. I don’t do that so I can only assume this is what is meant.
Though I don’t physically run long distances, I’ve gone through some stretches of life that sure have required endurance. Life in general requires plenty of endurance – just the daily grind of it. The stretches of grief, pain, brokenheartedness, insane busyness, times of uncertainty, it all puts us in a similar spot. We begin to focus on where it hurts and how we want to quit. We just want the hard season to be over. Why does it have to go on so long? Believe me, I know.
So what if we take a minute today and focus on where our strength really is. Isaiah 41:10 says, “Fear not, for I am with you’ Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.”
Dear Friend let me remind you today where your strength is. God will not wear out. He will not let you down. He will not leave you on your own. He will not let go of you. He will not forget about you. He will not leave you stranded. And let me tell you something else, He will reward your endurance. He will make it worth your while to hang on and finish the race.
In the middle of your valley, tapping into His strength is what gets you through. Don’t give up. Keep going when you don’t want to. His strength is enough. It will pull you through. The clouds will break. The sun shines again. The valley ends. And, I’ll add because it has been my experience, that the personal strength you gain from each valley helps you build endurance for the next one.
You can do it. You can make it. Don’t give up before the breakthrough comes. You are building your strength. You are inspiring others. You are earning the rest and reward that God has promised.
