A Marathon of Character

On October 27, 2018, history was made in sports.  The World Series ended in 18 innings with the longest time of a World Series game.  Neither team wanted to give up and just lose.  The Los Angeles Dodgers won the game.  Whether or not they win the series is mute.  The fact that they kept going when they were tired, hungry, nervous, unsettled, made mistakes, and extended time to play, is more of an indication to their character than winning the whole series.  Character is revealed when we have to endure and keep going, even when it seems like our struggles will never end. 

In our society today, we expect rewards in life to come quickly without any preparation or without any trials.  We look enviously at people who succeed at their desires in life, while not realizing all the turbulence that they endured to get to the top.  We just want to get to the top.  We just want to have the reward without doing the work.  We read the accounts in the Bible and believe that the people did not have to endure any trials.  We are not reading those accounts correctly if we really believe that.  The trials that those who succeed are immense and intense.  It’s why they succeed. 

When we read the story of David and his defeat of Goliath, we forget that David had killed lions and bears as a shepherd.  He was young, but he was strong and brave.  He was already a warrior before he faced Goliath.  He had to be in order to become the king of Israel.  Esther had endured the death of her parents and many people in her community.  Her uncle raised her and she developed an attitude to be kind to everyone, which benefited her when the king chose her as his bride. 

Life has struggles.  It is during the difficult times that we grow.  It is with the marathons of bad jobs, toxic relationships, diseases, and financial struggles that we discover who we are.  It’s not the good times that we grow, but the times in life that present themselves to be a marathon in which our character is tried and developed.  It’s up to us to decide how we will handle it. 

I never thought I would ever say that getting fired was the best thing that happened to me, but it was.  I was stuck in a job that felt like that eighteen-inning baseball game.  Life just kept going and going and doing the same exact activities, and I was becoming an invisible and weak person.  Once I was fired, it was like the homerun that woke me up in the middle of the night.  It was over.  I was free.  I was empowered.  I discovered that God likes me and loves me. 

We will have trials in life.  James 1 reminds us of that.  James also tells us that when we have trials we are to persevere, so that we can have a stronger character in the end.  The trials come, and if we persevere, we will become new in Christ and able to pursue our goals and bring our love to Jesus to others. 

If we want to do anything significant in life, we must live life like a marathon.  There will be entrances that are full of hope, but the middle appears monotonous and difficult.  When we keep going, we arrive at the end and look back at our journey that created a path for us to do great things for God.  Jesus didn’t promise easy.  He promised he would be with us.  It is with that promise that I can continue my journey to inspire and encourage others to do their best in life and make a difference for others.

Fans

Fans are people who sit in the stands and cheer on their teams.  Some fans sit in movie theaters and dress like the characters in the movies that they are about to see.  Other fans buy every album of their favorite musician and dance and cheer at their concerts.  Fans come in all ethnicities, ages, and creeds.  The one thing that they all have in common is that they cheer their favorite team, person, movie, artist to do their absolute best. 

Some people make fun of fans.  Being a Duke fan can generate a lot of criticism, but when I see their fans at the games, I totally understand.  These young people have some of the highest GPAs and SAT scores in the country.  They paint their faces, bodies, put on wigs, camp out, and create cheers for their teams.  They are the definition of fanatic.  They go through all of that effort to cheer their sports teams.  I wonder what our world would be like if every individual was a fan for someone else.

Think about it.  We cheer for those who have already attained some success in their area of expertise, but we complain and stay silent about the mundane tasks that people do for us every day around us.  It’s those tasks that need some cheerleaders.  They need someone to give a word of encouragement or to applaud when they do something that will make a difference much later in life.  We have a society that is so quick to point out the wrongs everyone is doing; it’s time we change that mindset and have a society that applauds the right things people are doing.

Encouragement is so needed in our world around us, and it is not used very often in our lives.  The Bible is full of characters that are fans.  The disciples had Jesus and each other.  Esther had her uncle.  Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego had each other and Daniel.  Mary and Joseph had each other.  Ruth had Naomi.  David had Jonathan.  When people stand up and guide us for the right we do and not just point out our flaws, work gets done.

It’s a reminder for me as I go back to school tomorrow.  I don’t need to look for my fan.  I need to be a fan for others.  When I’m busy doing for others, then I worry less about myself.  Besides, the big issues occurring in our country will only be resolved with small acts growing to halt their progress.  May we all begin to start the new direction of being a fan for someone and watch the progress of someone else grow. 

Take A Break

When I returned to teaching twelve years ago, I recognized that one of the benefits to teaching were the breaks that we receive.  I’ve only had a Fall Break for the last five years thanks to my principal asking us if we wanted a week in October and one week for Spring Break instead of two.  Since I have begun teaching, I know what it is like to go from Labor Day to Veteran’s Day without a break.  It is then that I realized that the career of teaching has it Biblically correct, and all the other careers can learn from us.

Jesus took time to himself.  In my own reading of the Bible, I have discovered that Jesus went by himself to pray.  He didn’t bring his disciples.  He took a break from everyone and everything.  Our physical bodies need us to do that.  I have worked with workaholics, especially in the church, and have observed them crumble when stressful times come because they are not prepared.  Our minds get tired.  Our bodies get weak.  Sickness comes upon us.  We need a break.  In the field of education, we get them and they are much needed. 

The Fall Break was created for the teachers.  It was not created for the students, but I noticed that they were becoming weary too.  God took a day off from his creation.  God created us and we are not God; therefore we need to take time off from our work and just rest.  Some of us need to take a break from social media, political ranting, sinful activities, and even church activities that are making us weak and sick in various ways.

Before I went back to teaching, I used to think it was easy to have a job where you had so many breaks.  I didn’t realize how much time I had off when I worked my own hours in youth ministry.  I didn’t work with thirty teenagers every day for eight hours.  I had breaks from students and adults.  Teaching goes beyond the classroom, and can become a career with many workaholics.  Being a workaholic brings money, but money does not make us stronger.  It can make us weaker in many ways. 

When I worked with workaholics and when I became one, they would guilt trip those around them that they were lazy and did not understand that God’s work is never done.  That’s true, but God has a more workers than just them, so allow others to work too.  When we take a break, we allow others to succeed.  We allow others to use their gifts.  Jesus called us to make disciples.  He didn’t call us to save people because only Jesus can save.  So, take some time off from your work or your calling or your political ranting, and take a deep breath and enjoy the beauty of the world that God created for you to enjoy.  You never know what you may discover about you and the world around you.

Look in the Mirror

There is only one person I can fix and change.  I am the only person I can fix and change; however, throughout my lifetime, many people have believed it was their duty to fix or change me.  Whether these people are in the church telling me how I must live my life morally, or on the Internet telling me how I must believe or think, they are all wrong.  I discovered on my spiritual journey of overcoming church, that no one is to wag his or her finger at anyone else, but share their flaws and sins with each other. 

Since most of my life this occurred in the church, I searched the Bible to discover where it says that someone needs to come to me in church and tell me my sins or flaws.  It isn’t in the Bible.  What is in scripture is more complete.  “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.  The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”  James 5:16 (NIV)  This verse informs us that we are to confess our sins one to another.  That means if I have a sin you want me to confess, you must confess your sin to me…first.  Then I confess my sins. No one forces because in confessing to one another, we both realize we are sinners.  Then we will pray together.  Then we will be healed.  That is how the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective, because we are working together with someone to repent of our own sins. 

In another passage, Jesus said that if someone sins AGAINST YOU, you are to go to that person in private.  I wonder what Jesus would add if he were on earth today with social media.  The point is Jesus never intended for us to run around and point out other people’s sins.  That’s what the religious leaders of his day were already doing.  He wanted us to do it with love and with God.  Interesting.  Jesus wanted to be included with this confession of sins among people. 

When I understood this and realized that I was in control of my flaws and sins, I changed.  I have so much work to do on myself, that I cannot focus on anyone else’s sins.  If everyone would look in the mirror and begin to focus on his or her own flaws what a beautiful world we would have.  Am I asking for an ideal utopia?  Yes, but that’s not what I want.  What I want is for the church to become what Jesus wants us to become.  He wants us to support one another.  He wants us to pray and confess our sins one to another.  We are all equal in the fact that we have all sinned.  We all need a Savior.  We all need to point our finger at ourselves.  If the church could work on the inside first, then the world around us would change.  Our country is in a quandary.  Will the church help or hurt?  It is up to each and every one of us in the church.  The church is the body of Christ.  We must work together.  We will not be perfect, but our God is perfect, and with him, the work will be accomplished.  We must do our part.