Digging Deep

"But He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" - 2 Corinthians 12:9 The last few miles of a marathon or Ironman typically require you to go places both mentally and physically you'd rather not go; you feel completely tapped, the finish line seems to get further and further away despite your steps forward, and your pace often slows to a crawl. Even with the best preparation and pre-race planning, the last bit of any long distance race can be downright brutal. Those who have been there will tell you that there is another place they go, somewhere deeper into the soul to find both the physical and mental reserves required to get them through to the end. It's often during those moments of complete weakness that athletes find strength they never thought existed. The conversations with God usually re-start during those times as well...."God, just get me through these last few miles". When we are feeling our best, our strongest, our most confident, few of us actually think about God and fewer among us actually go to and rely upon Him. Like early on in a race, when we're feeling good and in the flow, full of energy and more than enough in the tank. He's there on call, in reserve, for those moments of doom, gloom, and despair when we can't see our way around a problem or out of a situation. It's not that He'd prefer it that way - He actually wants a relationship with us in all times, good and bad, victory and defeat, joy and pain. But He knows that His presence is often revealed and felt the most during our times of despair, His power made perfect in our weakness. It's during those times that we recognize and come to terms with the fact that we simply can't make it on our own, that He is in control, and that without Him we don't cross that finish line. Digging deep we find that it's not our own strength or reserves which get us through another day, but His power and might and that there is absolutely nothing that He can't take on. Digging deeper we find that He is in control, that He never leaves or forsakes us, that He allows for our moments of weakness and pain so that we might finally and fully experience His strength and healing presence. Don't despair. BELIEVE.