When you hit the wall

Last month I was working out in my friend’s gym, having one of those days. You know, the ones where every exercise seems painful and hard? Some days exercise is fun and energizing for me, but other days it feels like the weights are extra heavy, the treadmill is extra fast and my whole body just lacks the umph it needs to keep going.  

As I finished my first set of reps (I usually do five activities two or three times, then do a different set of five activities, two or three times, for a total of ten activities in a regular workout), I thought, “Ok, today I’m only going to get through 2 reps” and I felt a little energy boost knowing that I was already half way done.

I stood up on the gym floor, faced the mirror to do a set of dumbbell curls, and that’s when I noticed the verse my friend had stenciled on the wall opposite the mirror: “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.” It’s from Isaiah 40 and the whole passage reads like this:

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young me stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:28-31).

As I reflected on the passage from Isaiah 40, that line really struck me: “...will renew their strength.”

When I think back to my youth, I can think of just a few times when I was one of the “young men” who “stumble and fall...” In fact, I can vividly remember a time when my youthful energy totally betrayed me and I had nothing left to give.

I played basketball my freshman year of high school, and we played for a tough, but very good basketball coach. Coach Miller had a very important philosophy about practice and it was very simple: “We are always going to accomplish something. And if we can’t accomplish anything else, we will get better conditioned.” That was code for running our butts off.

One particular torturous conditioning drill was called a mop-up. When doing a mop-up, you took your practice jersey off and placed it on the floor. You then grabbed it with your hands and ran a basic line drill. There were only three rules: The jersey had to stay on the ground. Your hands had to keep in constant contact with the jersey. And you could never sit down.

One mop-up was painful, but doable. Two mop-ups was excruciating, and required breaking through a pain threshold most of us had never approached. But the day we screwed up in a basketball game so badly that coach gave us three mop-ups, I found muscle groups in my body that I used that day, that have never been exercised before or since!

Coach walked in with a stack of papers and said, “Well boys, you know what we have today. So all we’re doing is three mop-ups, and when you’ve done your three, you can go home.” Then he sat down and started grading papers he was behind on. The fastest of us took the better part of an hour; our slowest teammate took almost two.

There was a point in which my legs burned so badly! I honestly have never hurt that much in my life, and that was after I had completed two full mop-ups, with on full one left to do. I kept praying that coach would just tell us to stop, but he didn’t. I knew that if I stood up I wouldn’t be playing in next week’s games. I pressed on through the pain and after about 75 minutes, I had completed my third mop-up. I waited in the gym until our whole team had finished then we hobbled to the showers together and committed to never, EVER, play in such a way as to need a mop-up as torture. If I remember right, we didn’t do a single mop-up the rest of the year.

I hate hitting walls. I always wish my walls were further from the starting line, but it seems like any time I get going on a new project, new workout plan, new eating goals or a better morning routine...SMACK! I run right into some personal, internal opposition. And all-too-often, the wall wins.

When living the Overboard Life, we are bound to hit some walls. That’s when the words of Isaiah 40 have to be embraced. We have to hold on to the truth that God will provide strength when we have only pain and weakness. He will give energy when we are weary and exhausted. He will restore power when we are faint and feel out of control. He will move our standing to walking and our walking to running. He will always give us what we need to get through the next wall.

Have you recently hit a wall? Are you staring at one right now, exhausted, weary and feeling defeated? Have you smacked your head one too many times, and certain that you’ll never get through, over, under or around?

Then you’re in Isaiah 40 country. You need to remember that God doesn’t grow weary and He is always working on behalf of His children. “Since God is for us” wrote the Apostle Paul, “who can stand against us?” And the answer is “No One!” Will you lean on Him again today as you face your wall?

14 down, 26 to go!

Go ahead and take the plunge, life is better on the water!

Who needs God? We have technology!

Joe Castaneda While I’m a devout football fan, I had a tough time tuning in to this year’s Superbowl (although you should read my amazingly accurate Superbowl prediction here!), as two of the four teams I can’t stand, were playing. (Incidentally, the other two teams I can’t stand lost to these two teams, in the playoffs two week prior!) (That’s a lot of Two’s and to’s.)

God mercifully protected me from having to turn down a bunch of Superbowl watching parties by having my wife and I traveling on the day of the big game. So I caught glimpses of Seattle’s epic victory while navigating Chicago’s O’Hare airport.

A few days after the game, however, I dialed up a Youtube channel that had all of the Superbowl commercials. I enjoyed catching up on the commercials I missed and am always amazed at what some companies will do with their $4,000,000 commercial spot. One that left many inspired and in tears (according to viewer comments) was done by Microsoft. It was a powerful 60 second ad:

http://youtu.be/qaOvHKG0Tio

I’ve watched this commercial a few times and found myself inspired each time. The people and stories they used to illustrate the power of technology make me want to stand up and cheer; in fact, it almost makes me like Microsoft. (Which as a life-long Apple guy, that’s a big shift!) (Notice I did say, “almost” makes me like Microsoft).

I digress.

But as I thought about all the claims this commercial made for technology, it reminded me very much of the claims Jesus made about Himself, and about His followers. In fact, I’m fully convinced that the things “technology can do for us” should be the calling card of every church that truly follows Jesus. Imagine if your church reader board said,

“Come to our church: We will unite our community, inspire people to be great, take you places you’ve never dreamed of, give hope if you’re feeling hopeless, give you a voice if you’re feeling voiceless and we empower everyone who walks through these doors.”

I bet you’d have a few people coming in to check out your claims.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that those claims should be true of every believer in Christ -- every person striving to live the Overboard Life. Let’s look at each claim:

The power to unite us: As Jesus was preparing His disciples for His departure, He prayed for unity to exist among us (John 17). He prayed that we would love each other with the same love God has for us, and that through our common love of a not-so-common God, we would be united in our worship, our work and our Kingdom dreams. True unity doesn’t come from a computer screen, but from a faith built on the unchanging nature of our God, expressed in genuine love for others.

It inspires us: When I contemplate all that God has done for me, I’m inspired to grow and be who God wants me to be, so that I can do what God wants me to do. In Romans 12:1 Paul writes, “Therefore, in view of God’s mercy…” we should live sacrificially for Him. The more I think about His mercy, His desire to pay the price for my sins, the more I’m inspired to step out of the boat and live out my faith. And I’ve noticed that when I take those steps of faith, others are inspired, too. And when I see others take the leap of faith, it inspires me to go even further! God is the greatest inspiration for every good and decent action.

Technology has taken us places we only dreamed of: When I began serving the Lord with my life, I never imagined the places I'd visit, the people I’d meet or the opportunities God would give me. I’ve had the privilege of working with people from all over the world, I’ve traveled to Europe, the Middle East, Africa, all over North America and have made friendships with people with whom I have but one thing in common -- Jesus. I’ve heard the name of God worshipped in dozens of different languages and dialects, and my life has been transformed by the opportunities God has given me. I’m humbled by His provision and for the chances to be used by Him at home and around the world. I never imagined God would use me the way He has, and that He would take me to places I had only dreamed of. He took a lowly fisherman and made him the leader of the early church. He took a humble shepherd and made him king of an empire. He took a servant girl and made her queen of the Kingdom. He took a broken and hurting widow who had nothing, and made her the Great Grand mother of Israel’s greatest king. When you live your life devoted to God I feel like it’s ok to quote Dr. Seuss…”Oh the places you’ll go!”

It gives hope to the hopeless: There is nothing that gives us hope like faith in God. As a race, humans are doomed to live under the curse of sin (Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23). Left to ourselves, this curse leaves us without hope and destined for an eternity without God. But God didn’t leave us without hope, instead, He sent His Son Jesus to do the unthinkable -- the perfect Son of God became the perfect sacrifice that made it possible to have our sins removed (John 3:16). When we had no hope, God gave us a chance; when we were dead in our sins, He made us alive. And God will do that for anyone who turns to Him in faith. And once your life has been changed by God’s grace and mercy, you should reflect that same hope to others. Nothing gives us hope for a better future than a relationship with God.

It has given voice to the voiceless: Some of the greatest advocates who have spoken for the voiceless are people who have put their faith in Christ Jesus. Jesus was the ultimate example of one who cared for the those forgotten by society, and by His grace and goodness, many of His children do the same today. In fact, no people on earth should care for the voiceless more than those who have been saved by the sacrifice of Christ. While our contemporary culture loves to point out those people who call themselves followers of God but who make Christianity look so spiteful, I’m thankful to look through pages of history and to see people living out their faith and speaking up for the voiceless. The drive to end slavery was initiated and led by people of faith. The women’s movement, at least in its origins, was led by men and women of faith. I spoke with an executive at a ministry that is seeking to end the world’s hunger problem and he told me, with absolute certainty, that the leading voices making a difference in the world’s poorest communities are people of faith. Hospitals were began when people of faith expressed their compassion to the hurting. Orphanages took shape under the community of faith. Today, hundreds of faith-based organizations are rescuing women and children from the sex trade industry and offering them education, training and hope. Knowing Jesus gives us the greatest platform for offering a voice to those who are not heard.

Empowering us all: No technology, no government and no policy, cultural norm or social initiative can ever empower people the way God does. The freedom that comes from knowing God and living a life of faith is unmatched by any other force. The Word of God sets people free to be who God designed them to be, so that they can do what God designed them to do. In a culture where people are longing for connection and fulfillment, a relationship with God empowers people to pursue greatness through the strength, power and resources that God provides. The humblest of humans can rise up to greatness under God’s hand, and “ordinary” individuals perform extraordinary tasks by trusting in Him. There is no other source of empowerment greater than God, and those living the Overboard Life should know it best.

This commercial has challenged me to evaluate my life. Am I leading the charge in unity? Am I trying to inspire others to live a life of godliness? Am I celebrating the journeys of others as they go where they never dreamed of in God’s service? Am I offering hope to those who have none? Is my voice speaking out for the voiceless? Am I living empowered by God, and showing others how to do the same?

Maybe next year you’ll see a commercial during the Superbowl about someone living the Overboard Life. You’ll be moved to see all that God does through people who trust Him with their lives, and you’ll think -- I want that to.

Go ahead and take the plunge, life is always better on the water!

Project Nehemiah is a book by Joe Castaneda, challenging people to live remarkably, and inspire others to do the same. It's available during the month of February for just $8.99 + FREE shipping! Order you copy today.