Resilience? Step a little closer.

Listen here:  https://www.pastorwoman.net/podcast/episode/2a5ab59a/resilience-ste...

We do not have to become heroes overnight.

Just a step at a time,

meeting each thing that comes up,

seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down.1

'The guy was inspiring--you are right!'

He was talking about Caleb, the subject of my last Morning Briefing. link: https://conta.cc/44tLGI9

His life was captured in the Old Testament book of Joshua.2 Who inspires from the New Testament? After Jesus, it would have to be Paul.

Candidly, I have stopped short in my thinking about Paul, mostly learning from his teaching, while not giving enough attention to his sold-out, never-say-die life. Over the course of his 60 or so years, Paul was a study in courage; he was gritty, determined and disciplined, all because of his passionate fervor for the Lord. Why, it imbued all he did with meaning, even the small things no one saw.

“Three bricklayers are asked: “What are you doing?” The first says, “I am laying bricks.” The second says, “I am building a church.” And the third says, “I am building the house of God.” The first bricklayer has a job. The second has a career. The third has a calling.”3

Truly, in his life and ministry, Paul had a calling, and was the poster child for resilience.

Paul wrote this to the Corinthians--who well understood athletic competition:

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize?

So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 

So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 

But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. 1 Corinthians 9.24-27

“Run in such a way to win the prize." Yes, I will. But what is that way?

From the Bible translation I memorized in college come these words : "I buffet my body and make it my own" – not discipline, but buffet. What?? Yet those were and are the verses that replay in my mind when I think about physical training, especially as a dint of self control.

I have said those words to myself when it was painful to exercise, but I knew I had to train physically to get out of pain. 'I buffet my body,' 'yes Lord, help me.'

You see, physical pain has been a part of my existence for about 35 years. And here is what I know - I must 'buffet my body' i.e., hit the treadmill or Stair master, exercise and move my body to get out of the pain. Otherwise, I would be hindered by pain, and likely defined by it.

I feel I would almost be disingenuous not to interject a personal story about ‘buffeting my body’. Before I moved to North Carolina, for 20 years, I lived in San Clemente, California, (surf town about halfway between L.A. and San Diego) in a community set on a hillside.  When I did not go to the gym, I devised a workout plan that used that hill - running down it, and then walking up backwards, with the curb as my guide, isometrically contracting my abs and glutes, and pumping my arms. Yes, it was a sight, but it worked.  

But in all candor, twice I backed into parked cars, (which were not supposed to be there by the way). One time, the vehicle I walked into was a truck full of gardeners eating their lunch – ha! They just shook their heads.

The other time was a Christmas morning, and the car alarm went off, bringing folks running out of the house to catch ‘the guy’ – I just laughed, shrugged my shoulders and kept moving. 

But all the while, I would think to myself, 'I buffet my body and make it my own....' ->>We are to buffet or discipline our bodies--with exercise, nutritious food and proper rest.  [our bodies are gifts]

Just about a year ago, I was in the ancient city of Corinth, (Greece); it is beautiful! I can picture its wide open spaces, tall age-old trees, impressive canal and excavated digs. When I think of Corinth, a beautiful setting materializes in my mind's eye, but when Paul wrote the aforementioned charge, he was not thinking of the landscape of the town, he visualized faces of people he knew and remembered. Love always sees faces. Because Paul loved the people at Corinth, he challenged them to discipline themselves so they could compete and 'go the distance'.

Paul referenced winning a wreath - the crown of those athletes who won in the Olympian and Isthmian Games; huh, it seems Paul held athletes and their discipline in high regard.  

And it seems Paul considered himself a spiritual athlete.  

Spiritual athlete ~ I like that a lot.  

And if a spiritual athlete,

I will be relentless and disciplined,

especially in private. 

My most important training happens

first thing each day -

->time with God in the Bible and in prayer.

This is a non-negotiable. 

As spiritual athletes, like Paul, we count the cost of personal discipline and strong priorities, sometimes falling but always getting back up, keeping our eye on the goal, checking our progress (looking at our boat wake!), and never giving up. One more thing—there is no statute of limitations on this; there is no retirement either. Remember, Caleb wanted to be pressed into service at 85 years of age! And well, 95 is the new 85! Resilience . . . prioritize it in your life.

Let's do this!  

You gotta see this, Jelly Roll: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euCyJbG7w                                                                                        

Christine

PastorWoman.net

1 - Eleanor Roosevelt

2 - If you want to read again about Caleb, here is the link - Joshua 14.6-13: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua 14.6-13&ver...

3 - Angela Duckworth, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance