This is the third post in a three part series. We’re using the word HOP to discuss the key virtues of a disciple on the run:
Humility
Obedience
Perseverance
READ PART I: H is for Humility
READ PART II: O is for Obedience
P is for Perseverance
Let’s turn our attention to the virtue of perseverance. We’ll start with God’s Word to awaken our sacred imaginations:
“Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 3: 13-14
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”
Hebrews 10: 23
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
James 1: 2-4
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus…”
Hebrews 12: 1-2
“For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.”
Hebrews 10: 36
“But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”
Matthew 24: 13
I’m writing this post as we enter the final days of the Tokyo Olympics. I spent a good chunk of my life as a very serious and reasonably successful competitive fencer.
I was out to dinner the other night with a dear brother in Christ. We were enjoying an outdoor celebratory birthday with his sister at a bustling mall in Los Gatos, California. After a few minutes, my eye was drawn to a man taking a seat at a table kitty corner from us. I did a double take a few times as I seemed to know him from somewhere. We pointed at each other, and then rose from our seats when we recognized each other.
Buckie Leach is a phenomenal coach and has been a pioneer in US Fencing. He’s got quite a story and personality to match his prowess as a coach. During my heydays I was fortunate to spend a couple of summers training with him and his fencers in Rochester, New York.
Buckoe had just returned from the Tokyo Olympics where he served as coach for the US Women’s Foil Team. Huge kudos to the athletes and coaches… the US won its first ever gold medal in the Women’s Foil individual competition (Lee Kiefer) and placed 4th in the team event.
God’s serendipity is never random. I have an inkling that Buckie’s story with me in randomly reconnecting the other night is just the beginning. He confessed he’s retiring from coaching. I know for a fact that he’s no more than 60 years old – hardly a retiring age for a coach with his track record and gifts. He’ll be driving around the country and plans to return to central California soon and is eager to reconnect with me when he does.
Buckie and I talked shop. I was confused by the performance of our super talented men’s foil team. They’ve been ranked #1 in the world for the last 2 years. They were definite contenders and favorites for the gold medal in Tokyo.
Unfortunately, no one performed well in the individual foil event, and while the men’s foil team won the bronze medal which is not a trivial achievement, they fenced a disappointing match against the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC/aka Russia) to get into the gold medal round.
I watched the match and I was floored by the tactical mistakes being made over and over again by our team. I shared my observations with Bucky and based on his reaction to me I was glad to know that after all these years of not competing my eye had not lost its sensitivity to the subtleties of the game.
We got into a discussion about the amount of pressure and distraction that our Olympic athletes face especially in sports typically not in the commercial spotlight. For our athletes, seeking media opportunities to parlay into sponsorships to reap the financial and fame based rewards, has taken front and center stage. The Olympics are often an odd competition with many underdogs frequently outperforming the favorites. This is nothing new.
This Olympics brought us the poignant story of gymnast Simone Biles. The story that really caught my eye was the perceived failure of super star professional tennis player Novak Djokovics failing to medal, flinging his racquet into the stands in frustration, and his subsequent “injury” withdrawal from the doubles competition.
A couple of days before Djokovic’s disappointing performance he had this to say about Simone Biles:
“Pressure is a privilege,” Djokovic had said. “Without pressure there is no professional sport. If you are aiming to be at the top of the game you better start learning how to deal with pressure. And how to cope with those moments on the court but also off the court, all the expectations.” Source Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2021/07/31/novak-djokovic-throwing-smashing-rackets-olympics/
Anybody remember Billy Joel’s song, Pressure? The music video is haunting:
Here are the lyrics…
You have to learn to pace yourself
Pressure
You’re just like everybody else
Pressure
You’ve only had to run so far
So good
But you will come to a place
Where the only thing you feel
Are loaded guns in your face
And you’ll have to deal with
Pressure
You used to call me paranoid
Pressure
But even you can not avoid
Pressure
You turned the tap dance into your crusade
Now here you are with your faith
And your Peter Pan advice
You have no scars on your face
And you cannot handle pressure
All grown up and no place to go
Psych 1, Psych 2
What do you know?
All your life is Channel 13
Sesame Street
What does it mean?
I’ll tell you what it means
Pressure
Pressure
Don’t ask for help
You’re all alone
Pressure
You’ll have to answer
To your own
Pressure
I’m sure you’ll have some cosmic rationale
But here you are in the ninth
Two men out and three men on
Nowhere to look but inside
Where we all respond to
Pressure
Pressure
All your life is Time magazine
I read it too
What does it mean?
Pressure
I’m sure you’ll have some cosmic rationale
But here you are with your faith
And your Peter Pan advice
You have no scars on your face
And you cannot handle pressure
Pressure, pressure
One, two, three, four
Pressure
Source: LyricFind
In Djokovic’s partial defense, there are techniques athletes need to learn to cope with the pressures of performance. There’s a rich body of knowledge, research, and practice within Sport’s Psychology focused on performance. I have quite a few personal stories to share about this topic but let me leave those for another time.
After all these sports stories, here’s the question. What’s the relationship between perseverance and pressure?
If we look at this from a human perspective we’re quickly drawn into the mythos of great Heroes that we pursue and worship as idols in our society. Djokovic’s quote says it all.
How’s this for a caricature of today’s insidious popular attitude:
“Hey everyone be TOUGH…we should have the power to persevere no matter what. We can rise above whatever circumstances we’re facing if we’re truly tough and great. We alone can and should be our sole source of power in the face of anything that is an obstacle or seeks to take us down. Watch out world, we’ve got this!”
PABLUM & SNAKE OIL – DOMINANT SOCIAL “EMPOWERING” MESSAGES
And if you truly buy into that philosophy I doubt if you would still be reading this blog post. Of course we need to cultivate positive attitudes.
How about if we seek the upwelling of a True positive attitude from the Springs of Living Water? Let’s imbibe this sacred elixir to hydrate genuine deep lasting positivity.
As my friend Michael Doherty loves to say, Jesus always has another Judo move to flip any of our possible flippant arrogant assumptions that, “we can do anything without Jesus’ Spirit working within us.”
Let’s picture ourselves in the Olympic Gold Medal Judo match with Jesus. Can you see yourself lying on the matt staring up into the Loving eyes of our Lord as He teaches us the real meaning of perseverance?
We persevere through our weakness. We persevere through our endless neediness. St. Paul through all of the hardships he endured, is our model as disciples on the run of a True Spiritually tough athlete:
If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.
(2 Corinthians 11:30)
9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
(2 Corinthians 12: 9-10)
Sports, like many other parts of our society, have become super infected with perverse notions of putting self before God. Our only power and life is in Jesus Christ. We die and live in the crucified Jesus to rise with Christ as adopted sons and daughters of God the Most High.
Our image of perseverance needs to change from the likely parlance dominating our prevalent notions. Our persevering toughness in running to Christ with all we have is measured by our willingness to, “Let Go.”
We can’t just grit our teeth to churn out the final miles on our run. We need to get our second wind from the Holy Spirit. If we persevere in our desire for Jesus, and our trust in Him first and foremost, we’ll be given everything we’ll need to persevere in pursuing the Ultimate Prize: Life Eternally with God.
Let’s take a look at the “HOP to It” trail we’ve been running on during this three part post.
H is for Humility:
We must humble our vision of “greatness”; we exist because of His Love and for His Love.
O is for Obedience:
We enact His Love through obedience to His Will.
P is for Perseverance:
We face our trials through perseverance by our trust in His power.
And why are we eager to HOP to It? Because we have …
H O P (E)
Christ will lay crowns upon our heads. We’ll be dressed in pure, white robes of righteousness. Humility, and Obedience will be the threads of these Holy robes.
Our stamina to run this beautiful but challenging earthly race will be rewarded. Perseverance will be replaced with an eternal way of Love that flows through us, in us, and around us.
E is for Eternity:
We are created for Eternal Communion with the Father, Son, Holy Spirit & all our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Our run in faith, entails inviting the Coach of all Coaches to shape us through tailored made workouts to prep our soil (soul) with eternal humility and obedience. This will lead us to reap eternal joy:
Those who sow with tears
will reap with songs of joy.
(Psalm 126:5)
We eagerly await the day when we will radiate His Glory as heavenly athletes adorned with olive branches of eternal Peace and Love.
Questions to Consider:
As you reflect on any of these question please consider sharing your ideas and experiences with others in the comment section below.
- Can you recall a time when you felt Jesus help you persevere during a difficult situation? How do you feel and notice His Presence?
- How much are you relying on Jesus to help you persevere through the trials in your life?
- What are some ways you can invite Jesus deeper into the center of your trials?
We’ll close with a prayer. I apologize. I didn’t write this prayer but I can’t find the source. We’ll attribute it to the Holy Spirit:
Loving Lord, I thank You for the many witnesses of the faith who have demonstrated that Your power and might is sufficient for all the dangers and disappointments, suffering and pain that we may encounter on our spiritual progress through life. Thank You for the lessons You have taught us through the unparalleled witness of Your servant Job, the severe and sustained trials and tribulations that he endured and the glorious outcome at the end of his journey, when he was able to cry out in humility of heart, I have heard of You with my ears but now I have seen You with my eyes with my spiritual eyes of understanding.
Father, I know that there is much about my journey through life that I do not understand, but Lord I trust You, for You have scheduled every day of my life and there are no dangers or disappointments, suffering or pain of which You are unaware, and which You will not use for Your greater glory and my eternal good. I pray that even though I do not understand the reason for so many of the difficulties that I have to endure, that You will provide me with the sufficient grace I need to persevere to the end. Lord, I believe that my times are in Your hands and I trust You to bring me through to a final and triumphant conclusion.
Strengthen and uphold me in the power of Your Spirit, and sustain and comfort me I pray, so that in all things I may patiently endure to the end to Your praise and glory. I humbly ask this in the name of Jesus, Amen.
