Spiritual Endurance

A few weekends ago, I hung out with Pique's aunt (Pique is my boyfriend), and it was so much fun! We ate some lunch, went biking, and had some delicious snow cones. Now, let's talk about the biking for a little bit. When pique's aunt told me we were going biking, I freaked out internally because I had not ridden a bike in 10 years and even though those things are never forgotten, I remember I wasn't amazing at riding bikes in the first place. Nevertheless, I agreed because I wanted to try something new and exciting, and I was also going to get a work out in all at the same time (double whammy).

Once we started biking on the trail, I made sure I was following pique's aunt the whole time so I wouldn't get lost. At first It was very light and fun; I felt like a 10 year old again- it was great, but then I heard her say, "Alright, we're about to go up a hill so start going faster." As we were going up the hill, I not only felt it in my legs, but in my core as well and it was hard. I felt a resistance, but I pushed through because I was following pique's aunt, and I couldn't just stop. I had my eyes fixed on her and I couldn't lose her, because then I'd freak out even more! After that day, I began to reflect and I realized that my experience with the bikes is much like my relationship with Jesus. Life is not always going to be a straight an easy bike ride. There will be hills and resistance that comes with it, but if you fix your eyes on Jesus, after every journey, you will gain endurance that will help you for the next time you are faced with difficult times. Our faith in Jesus needs to be trained and "worked out," much like we have to work out our bodies to keep them in shape. Like a beginner runner who finally gets to the point where he can run 1 mile without stopping, he eventually wants to train for 2 miles. Well, once we get over a spiritual hill The Lord will allow us to exercise our faith all of our lives, constantly coming in community with Him, and constantly fixing our eyes on Him.

My goal is to constantly be worked out in my relationship with Jesus. I don't want to simply maintain my endurance, I want to grow in it. Do you?