Press Through The Limits

This morning I did something I have not done in years: I decided to run 5 miles, as hard as I could go.

For several months I have been running on the treadmill between 1 to 3 miles every day or two, but only at a manageable lazy pace. This morning, I decided to run outdoors -- the operative word here being run.

My goal was to reach back into my Marine Corps days and come to that place where I was able to remember what it felt like to breakthrough perceived limits, no matter what. This always involved pain -- you know... “No pain, no gain.” This ‘place’ of perceived limits is a place where you have to make one of two decisions: 1) Stop and turn away because it hurts too much or it’s too hard; or 2) Press on through the pain into the unknown of what you think are your limits.

Your decision and what you discover at this point reveals bedrock truth about your character, resolve, and discipline. This is why we are rarely willing to go to this place in our lives.

Honestly, 2 miles into my run this morning, I noticed that my feel-good moments were starting to deteriorate rapidly, and with each step a mental and physical challenge emerged. However, in the end I completely my goal, averaged just over 7 and a half minutes a mile (over the 5.3 miles), with my last mile being 21 seconds faster than my first. At exactly two months shy of being 45-years-old, I will take that on a first attempt and feel good about it! At the “finish line,” while the pain was consuming, so too was the feeling of accomplishment. There is an agonizing tension in those final moments.

We can learn a lot in the tension -- a lot about ourselves, and a lot about God.

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been teaching a new message series, titled, “SOUL SURFER: Ready to Catch Your Wave?” at FaithWalk, and this coming Sunday will be Part 3: “Getting Back in the Water.” The movie Soul Surfer, which is still in theaters, is based on the true life story of Bethany Hamilton, who at age 13, and on the verge of turning pro as a surfer, was attacked by a shark and lost her left arm in the process. Last Sunday (May 15th) was titled, “Trusting God in the Impact Zone,” a place we all find ourselves at times in our lives. One of the core versus I read was Philippians 4:13 -- “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength” (NLT). It was a verse that Bethany clung to when she was in the “impact zone” of her life.

When we approach our perceived limitations in life, are we always pressing those limits through Christ, or through our own abilities, motives, and power? For most of my life, especially when I was wrestling with God’s call many years ago, I was trying to understand and reason my way through, on my own. I told myself I wasn’t smart enough, didn’t know enough, couldn’t do it, and I was terrified and didn’t want to admit it. But when I stopped trying to press through on my own and allowed Christ to give me the strength to do it, my world completely changed.

Tension is where you are formed, shaped, molded, and empowered for God’s plan and purpose.

Today, when the pain came on the run, I began reading verses of text in my head, especially Philippians 4:13, but there were others, along with a quiet reminder that my limits are not God’s limits. Consider this: the kinetic energy of running is not the leg and arm movement, but instead is represented in motion itself -- how our bodies move from a state of rest to a particular velocity. This movement is happening in a specific direction and leaving behind everything it represented in the previous moment. What if our lives where looked at in this way? What if your formation in Christ was understood truly as leaving the old you behind, so that by running after Jesus your identity is completely transformed back into His likeness? (This would be the emptying out of pride, revealing the purest form of humility).

What limits you in this all important decision?

Paul also reminds us in Philippians chapter 3 about running that perfect race. He writes, “I focus on the one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us” (Phil 3:13b-14, NLT).

God has a plan for you, and you can’t reason your way there. You have to be willing to press on through your own perceived limits -- by way of Christ -- in order to finish strong. You and I can’t do it on our own. Remember, Jesus must become greater and greater in your life and you must become less and less (see John 3:30).

Are you willing to trust God more than you trust yourself and press through the limits? There is no authentic gain without pain; ask Jesus.