I have spent much of my life pursuing endurance in one athletic activity or another.  Developing and maintaining that kind of conditioning can be difficult and definitely takes time.  In the photo, you see a group of men who are developing endurance.  Though the caption reads Navy Seals, they really are a group of students who are undergoing the rigorous training that if completed, is a step towards becoming a Seal.  They all have come to the training with various levels of endurance and conditioning, and will be put through extremes to push them beyond where they are.  To make the desired gains in all aspects of endurance, they are led by Seal instructors who place extreme yet calculated demands on them.  They deal with their egos, the elements, and each other.  In the process they develop endurance as individuals and as a unit.

     As Christians, we are expected to have endurance.  The Holy Spirit is our instructor who uses the Word, life’s situations, and others, to help us build our endurance.  As we travel this path with God, there are times of long, slow, and deliberate actions that are used for our benefit.  There are also intervals of great intensity that we go through that develop the conditioning that we need.  There are times of dis- orientation that instill in us deep patterns of endurance.  It may feel at times that we are going thorough chaos, but those periods push us to levels, that the lower intensity cannot accomplish.  For us to make the gains that are needed for our journey, we need to by faith, let go and trust.  We need to breathe properly using our largest muscles to take in as much nourishment as possible to be able to go the distance.  And we as brothers and sisters, need to function as a unit.  This allows us to help those endure when they have met their limit and can’t continue and they in turn help us when we need it.

     As you press on in Christ, how is it that you have gained endurance?  As you travel with Jesus, what keeps you going?

Picture: Navy Seals, by tomsaint11