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Tag: #MentalToughness

Consider Your Trials…Joy?

Written by kcastillo on . Posted in Devotionals. No Comments on Consider Your Trials…Joy?

James 1:2-4

What hardships are you facing today? Perhaps you’re navigating heartache, divorce, sickness, loss, financial strain, or any other of the many difficulties that we encounter in our lives. While challenges of all sorts are unavoidable, the Word of God is rich in wisdom that can guide us every season. So, what should we do during seasons of hardship? In James chapter 1, the Apostle James answered that question when he wrote, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds” (verse 2).

Consider trials a joy—pure joy? James didn’t supply a mere coping strategy to deploy in adverse circumstances; he expressed that we can, and should, find joy in them. You may be wondering how that could even be possible, and thankfully, James also offered an illuminating explanation: “Because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance” (verse 3). He continued, “Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (verse 4).

Take a moment to reflect on the rigorous training programs endured by the most elite athletes. High-level athletes subject themselves to—and even learn to enjoy—levels of physical stress that most people wouldn’t dream of taking on. But why? The answer is simple: they know what their training produces—strength, stamina, and, most importantly, a chance at victory.

What if we, like world-class athletes in training, learned to embrace difficulties because we valued what they produced in our lives? Friends, the Lord works masterfully through our trials and uses them to develop perseverance in us. Perseverance is invaluable; it enables us to mature and, ultimately, reach a state of spiritual completion in which we lack nothing. While this wonderful spiritual reality doesn’t eliminate the presence of pain in our lives, it does allow us to discover purpose within it—and that is something to be considered a joy!

Read, Reflect, Write:

Have you ever had a difficult experience (such as training for an athletic event) that produced something valuable in your life? If so, what was it?

Read James 1:2-4. What hardships are you currently facing? How might the Lord use that situation to strengthen you?

Read 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. According to this passage, what are your current troubles achieving for you?

What are some simple habits that might help you to fix your eyes on the unseen? How
would these habits better equip you to endure trials?

One Thing to Focus on as Christians

Written by amerrill on . Posted in Blog. No Comments on One Thing to Focus on as Christians

Most people don’t remember who won the 400m semi-final at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. They do, however, remember an incredibly moving moment between a father and a son. As 65,000 spectators gathered in the stands, Derek Redmond passed 250 meters at the seventeen-second mark and suddenly felt a pop in his hamstring. He went down and stayed down for nearly 30 seconds as his competitors sprinted toward the finish line. Soon, officials crouched beside him, trying to help escort him off the track.

Suddenly, something dawned on the runner. “I looked up, and realized I was in the Olympic semifinals,” Derek said later. “I looked down the track and saw the others and said, ‘I must finish the race.’” Brushing off the officials and the medical team, Derek got up and began to limp down the track. His agony was clear, but still he pressed on. Section by section, people in the stands above stood up and cheered.

Meanwhile, Derek’s father, Jim Redmond, made his way down from the stands, hurdling over chairs and dodging Olympic security as he ran toward his son. Once he reached Derek, the elder Redmond put his arm around his son’s back, and Derek put an arm around his father’s neck. The two walked to the finish line together. Nearly thirty years later, it is still one of the most amazing and emotional scenes in Olympic history.

No matter the setbacks or pain of the past, the one thing you must focus on and pursue as a Christian is the finish line of your faith. The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 3:13, “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ.” In a world where ease is emphasized and faithfulness is mocked, Paul’s extraordinarily focused mindset inspires us to run our race undeterred.

Like Derek Redmond, the Apostle Paul was no stranger to pain, injury, and setbacks. In his mission to share the Gospel with as many people as possible, he suffered floggings, beatings, near-death stoning, shipwreck, prison, hunger, thirst, sleeplessness, cold, nakedness, and danger from every side (2 Cor. 11:23-27). Despite all this, he was resolute on the race God set before him.

How about you? Similar to Derek Redmond, you and I have a Heavenly Father who does not leave us to cross the finish line alone—as Paul himself declared in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all this through Him [God] who gives me strength.” Let Derek Redmond’s story—and Paul’s example—remind you “to press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called you heavenward in Christ.”

Stay focused on the finish line, my friend.

 

Adapted from Pastor Dudley Rutherford’s new book, One Thing: Rediscover a Simple Faith in Our Complicated World, available now on Amazon and wherever books are sold. Pastor Dudley Rutherford is the senior pastor of Shepherd Church, which has three campuses in the Greater Los Angeles area. You can watch services online or connect with Dudley at dev.fishhookcms.com/ and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.