"Let your patience show itself perfectly in what you do. Then you will be perfect and complete and will have everything you do." James 1:4
We are impatient. Yes I said it. As humans we expect immediate results in everything we do. We expect instant gratification. But God doesn't see it that way, as he wants our faith to grow stronger and the only way that will happen is by testing us.
As Ephesians 4:18 says "We have small troubles for a while now, but they are helping us gain an eternal glory that is much greater than the troubles. We set our eyes not on what we see but on what we cannot see. What we see will last only a short time, but what we cannot see will last forever.
So in my opinion faith is believing in something you cannot see, feel or touch. It's taking that step not knowing what the end result will be. Perseverance is sticking with that leap of faith and staying the course. I want God to test me. I want God to help me to grow my faith.
Romans 5:3-5 sums it up perfectly, "We also have joy with our troubles, because we know that these troubles produce patience. And patience produces charactor, and charactor produces hope. And this hope will never disappoint us, because God has poured out our Love to fill our hearts. He gave us his love through the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to us.
Since I am training for a marathon I have to have patience. I have to trust my coach that he has my best interest in mind. The goal is the marathon and nothing else. I have to trust the training.
It's tough running right now. We are in the heat of summer. The other day it was 103 degrees during my run but I knew the only way I'm going to complete that marathon in January is by following my training plan. But, I also know this, cooler tempertures will come and when they do, the fruits of my training now will come to bear.
The best run of the year is that first autum run when the tempertures are 60 degrees and there is nothing but blue sky. It's awesome. I have to be patient and wait for that first fall morning.
My advise to all my fellow runners is to have patience and remember that every run you complete in this heat it is making you stronger and stronger. That is my hope for you.
Have a great week and God Bless.
See you on the road.
Coach Rich
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Humility
"All who make themselves great will be made humble, but those who make themselves humble will be made great." Luke 14:11
It's been one of those weeks where God has constantly been giving me basically the same message. That message is Humility. Luke 14:11 pretty much says it all for me. It's a message I constantly communicate to my boys as they progress in life.
Staying humble in this day and age is extremely difficult because we live in a society where the amount of success you achieve is where you are placed in societies pecking order. For a long time I was willing to do anything to be successful and it was mostly so I could gain the approval of others.
Then I finally began to figure it out, the only person I need to be successful for is my Lord Jesus Christ. That's it.
Dr. Charles Stanley said recently "humility doesn't come naturally. It requires deliberate, ongoing effort to remain in God's presence so we can see how worthy He is of our total submission."
Proverbs 3:34 says it best, "God is against the proud, but he gives grace to the humble."
Staying humble is tough, it's something I try to do everyday, but pride, greed and jealously are constantly trying to take that humility away.
So why did I decide to write about humility this week?
Well as a runner I have to remember to stay humble in my training. Which means when I have success in a race or a workout, its ok to acknowledge that success and even celebrate it, but only to myself. Humility in running is also about acknowledigng other peoples successes and giving encouragement to people who need it.
The old saying of it's better to give rather than receive is really true.
One other thing before I sign off, I have found that God is very good about reminding us of our duty to be humble. There have been many times when I filled myself with pride about my running and success, and than bam! I find myself humbled because somebody or something kicked my ass (sorry about the language)
So stay humble my friends, thank the Lord for giving you the gift of being able to run and exercise. Congratulate your fellow runners on their success, and success will come to you.
Have a great week and I'll see you on the road.
Coach Rich :)
It's been one of those weeks where God has constantly been giving me basically the same message. That message is Humility. Luke 14:11 pretty much says it all for me. It's a message I constantly communicate to my boys as they progress in life.
Staying humble in this day and age is extremely difficult because we live in a society where the amount of success you achieve is where you are placed in societies pecking order. For a long time I was willing to do anything to be successful and it was mostly so I could gain the approval of others.
Then I finally began to figure it out, the only person I need to be successful for is my Lord Jesus Christ. That's it.
Dr. Charles Stanley said recently "humility doesn't come naturally. It requires deliberate, ongoing effort to remain in God's presence so we can see how worthy He is of our total submission."
Proverbs 3:34 says it best, "God is against the proud, but he gives grace to the humble."
Staying humble is tough, it's something I try to do everyday, but pride, greed and jealously are constantly trying to take that humility away.
So why did I decide to write about humility this week?
Well as a runner I have to remember to stay humble in my training. Which means when I have success in a race or a workout, its ok to acknowledge that success and even celebrate it, but only to myself. Humility in running is also about acknowledigng other peoples successes and giving encouragement to people who need it.
The old saying of it's better to give rather than receive is really true.
One other thing before I sign off, I have found that God is very good about reminding us of our duty to be humble. There have been many times when I filled myself with pride about my running and success, and than bam! I find myself humbled because somebody or something kicked my ass (sorry about the language)
So stay humble my friends, thank the Lord for giving you the gift of being able to run and exercise. Congratulate your fellow runners on their success, and success will come to you.
Have a great week and I'll see you on the road.
Coach Rich :)
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Comfort
"My Father has me all things. No one knows the Son, except the Father. Ano one knows the Father except the Son and those whom the Son chooses to tell" Matthew 11:27
It took me a while but I have finally figured it out. If God wanted for us to be comfortable, everything would be easy in our day to day lifes. Think about it. You could could ask for anything and God would just give it to us. Wouldn't that be great?
But also wouldn't that get boring after a while? I think so.
We are creatures of habit. If there is something new to try, typically we won't do it unless we know we will gain instant gratification or results.
Today was the first day of our new training program. To be honest with you I thought the turnout would be tremendous. But, it didn't turn out that way. A grand total of four people showed up. As I began to talk to people, the feedback I heard was not suprising.
"Our group is too fast." or another one was "we won't have anybody to run with or I'll get left behind."
To be honest with you, the comments didn't suprise me. But it led me to wonder and question why were people thinking those thoughts? What did I do wrong?
I'm guilty of being comfortable just like everyone else. Up until this year, I was content on continuing my current training program. It was the same over and over. But than one day, I was convinced that I needed to make a change especially if I was going to run a marathon in January, I needed a change of scenary, things needed to be mixed up a little.
The bottom line is we all have choices! You have to decide on what you're going to do and then do it. The only way to get better at something is to go from being comfortable to uncomfortable. And most importantly you have to challange yourself!
I'm uncomfortable. But, I also know that in the long run everything will turnout to be successful because I know that is what God wants for me.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
Adversity and trails brings faith and hope which is something He wants all of us to have. So I know he will not let me fail.
I also know that what we have planned will bring people out. We have plans for runners of all abilities. NO ONE WILL BE LEFT BEHIND. But we are different because people will get a little uncomfortable because they will see a training program where they may be doing things they haven't done before.
One of my friends who came out today really lifted my spirits because she had never been that exposed to our group. But as she looked around at the group afterwards eating breakfast and hanging out, she commented that a lot of people she knows would like this.
Finally it's all about baby steps. It's July, it's hot and January is a long way off. But, 12 weeks from now is 10 Miles for Texas and it's time to ask yourself, do you just want to finish or do you want to do well?
If you want to do well, get into a program and start training, the rewards will be tremendous.
See you on the road.
Coach Rich
It took me a while but I have finally figured it out. If God wanted for us to be comfortable, everything would be easy in our day to day lifes. Think about it. You could could ask for anything and God would just give it to us. Wouldn't that be great?
But also wouldn't that get boring after a while? I think so.
We are creatures of habit. If there is something new to try, typically we won't do it unless we know we will gain instant gratification or results.
Today was the first day of our new training program. To be honest with you I thought the turnout would be tremendous. But, it didn't turn out that way. A grand total of four people showed up. As I began to talk to people, the feedback I heard was not suprising.
"Our group is too fast." or another one was "we won't have anybody to run with or I'll get left behind."
To be honest with you, the comments didn't suprise me. But it led me to wonder and question why were people thinking those thoughts? What did I do wrong?
I'm guilty of being comfortable just like everyone else. Up until this year, I was content on continuing my current training program. It was the same over and over. But than one day, I was convinced that I needed to make a change especially if I was going to run a marathon in January, I needed a change of scenary, things needed to be mixed up a little.
The bottom line is we all have choices! You have to decide on what you're going to do and then do it. The only way to get better at something is to go from being comfortable to uncomfortable. And most importantly you have to challange yourself!
I'm uncomfortable. But, I also know that in the long run everything will turnout to be successful because I know that is what God wants for me.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
Adversity and trails brings faith and hope which is something He wants all of us to have. So I know he will not let me fail.
I also know that what we have planned will bring people out. We have plans for runners of all abilities. NO ONE WILL BE LEFT BEHIND. But we are different because people will get a little uncomfortable because they will see a training program where they may be doing things they haven't done before.
One of my friends who came out today really lifted my spirits because she had never been that exposed to our group. But as she looked around at the group afterwards eating breakfast and hanging out, she commented that a lot of people she knows would like this.
Finally it's all about baby steps. It's July, it's hot and January is a long way off. But, 12 weeks from now is 10 Miles for Texas and it's time to ask yourself, do you just want to finish or do you want to do well?
If you want to do well, get into a program and start training, the rewards will be tremendous.
See you on the road.
Coach Rich
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