I’ve been watching the US Open tennis tournament lately. Some of the matches are grueling, lasting hours, sometimes well after midnight, in very hot, humid weather. They are all very skilled, but the conditions are so challenging that even well-practiced strokes being to fail. The competitors are all very fit after years of training, but by the end, they are completely exhausted. If they make it that far. Cramps and injuries aren’t uncommon.
Those players need both endurance and encouragement for sure.
I don’t play a five-set tennis matches in front of a stadium full of jeering onlookers, but just living life is challenging enough. Life is painful, confusing, frustrating, frightening, and often surprising. And no matter how hard I try, I can’t stop aging. Things I used to be able to do easily are now difficult, like seeing the words on this page. All this pain is due to “the fall” when we humans decided we wanted to do things our way, when Adam and Eve rebelled.
Fortunately, the pain and decay will one day come to an end when Jesus returns. This long, grueling tennis match will come to an end. And if I faithfully endure the struggle, I will be rewarded with the trophy of eternal, beautiful life.
But that’s someday. I’m in the middle. What do I do right now? The tennis players draw on endurance built by hours and hours on the practice courts. And they gather encouragement from their player’s box where people who know them and care about them can cheer them on and give them advice.
Like the athletes, I build up endurance by practicing obedience to God and watching His faithfulness. I study His word and pray knowing I can trust God when difficult situations throw me off balance. I gather encouragement from His word as well as from other people who know God and know me and love me.
The big difference between my life and a tennis match is that I am not in a competition, thank God. There isn’t just one prize. Other people are not my enemy or opponent. If we rely on the sources of endurance and encouragement that God has provided for us, we can all win the prize! Life, although it’s still a struggle, can be a shared joy as we work together in harmony because of Jesus’s forgiveness.
Dear God,
I am so glad that I don’t have to compete with anyone else for your love. You have more than enough to go around. Remind me to look to you for encouragement and endurance when things are difficult and confusing and painful. Show me who in my life I can go to for encouragement, and who I can encourage today.
CamDevo 