Perseverance

"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