Hitting the Wall
Hitting the Wall
I once heard a trainer say that the human body is not designed to run for 26 miles
continuously. But Marathon runners do just that! However, at about 20 miles
something serious happens – there is a sudden and severe loss of energy,
primarily due to the depletion of glycogen in the muscles. Runners call this
“hitting the wall.” Your body tells you that you cannot go on. It then becomes
very hard to stay motivated enough to continue to the finish line.
Something similar to that can happen to us spiritually. In fact the Bible records
how some of God’s faithful servants have “hit the wall.” Consider for example . . .
Jeremiah: “Cursed be the day when I was born . . . Why did I ever come forth
from the womb to look on trouble and sorrow ?” - Jer 20:14,18
Elijah: “It is enough; now, O LORD, take my life.” - 1 Kg 19:4
Jonah: “O LORD, please take my life from me, for death is better to me
than life.” - Jon 4:3
Moses: “It is too burdensome for me . . . If Thou art going to deal thus with
me, please kill me at once . . . do not let me see my wretchedness.”
- Num 11:14,15
Job: “Oh that my request might come to pass, and that God would grant
my longing! Would that God were willing to crush me; that He
would loose His hand and cut me off!” - Job 6:8,9
Paul: “We do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction
which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively,
beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life.” - 2 Cor 1:8
Life is full of things that can make us feel like we’re “hitting the wall” –
misfortune, disappointment, betrayal, discouragement, grief, and the list goes on.
If we will allow this feeling to linger it can make us depressed, despondent and
wishing we could just “drop out of the race.” That’s when we need to do what
those examples above did. They faced the wall, and with God’s help went on
through it.
We need to follow the admonition in Hebrews 12:1: “Lay aside every
encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with
endurance (perseverance) the race that is set before us.” In the very next chapter
we are assured: “The Lord has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So
we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear.’ ”
- Leonard White
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Beneath The Cross
Before we observe the Lord’s Supper we sometimes sing a beautiful hymn entitled
“Lead Me To Calvary.” Have you ever tried to imagine yourself at the scene of
Jesus’ cross? What might you have observed? Based on the accounts in scripture
there are many things that come to mind, but let me suggest just two.
First, the unspeakable physical suffering of Jesus. Today we can only read
descriptions of a Roman scourging followed by crucifixion, but to witness the
mangled body of our Savior impaled on the cross would have been almost too
horrible to endure!
Secondly, consider the picture of Mary as she watched her beloved and sinless
son suffering this sadistic and excruciating death. What a flood of emotions must
she have experienced! It was a mother’s love, but much more - she had known
even before her conception that this was the son of God. One of his dying words
expressed Jesus’ desire that she be cared for.
Such thoughts as these must have prompted Elizabeth Clephane to write:
“From my smitten heart with tears, two wonders I confess,
the wonders of His glorious love, and my own worthlessness.”
- Leonard White
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Remember the Lonely
The following ad once appeared in a newspaper:
I will listen to you talk for 30 minutes
without comment for 5 dollars.
Sounds like a joke, doesn’t it? But it wasn’t. The person who placed the ad
reported receiving 10 to 20 calls per day!
God created us as social beings, with the need to interact with other people.
There are many things that can cause a person to become alone and isolated, and
when this happens most people find the resulting loneliness an incredibly painful
thing to endure.
If you see someone suffering from hunger don’t you feel moved to do what you
can to help them? We should remember this the next time we have an
opportunity to relieve some lonely person’s “hunger of the soul.”
- Selected
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Just For Kids
Two men were seated next to each other on an airplane. One turned and asked,
“What do you do?” The man replied, “I’m a preacher of the gospel.”
“Oh,” said the first man, “I don't believe in that religious stuff, it’s just for kids.
You know: ‘Jesus Loves Me This I Know, For The Bible Tells Me So.’ ”
The preacher politely smiled and asked the other man what he did for a living.
“I’m an astronomer,” said the first man.
“Oh, that stuff,” said the preacher, “I thought that was just for kids too. You
know: ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.’ ”
Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like
wrapping a present and not giving it.
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