A few months before, our young and energetic assistant coach announced that she would be handling our post-season conditioning that year. She warned us that we needed to be ready to work harder than we ever had before. I still love and admire her today, but she lived up to her warnings. It did not matter if it was 5:00am, 3:30pm, or 6:00pm, each and every workout pushed me to my physical limit.
Most of these workouts are blurred by sweat and exhaustion, but one day has always stood out in my mind as clearer than the rest. My teammates and I were each drenched in sweat, and the lack of air conditioning was not helping anyone. We were in the middle of the workout, and I honestly thought I was going to pass out before I finished the last circuit. My coach must have read my mind because she began yelling at us not to quit. She told us "It is going to be hard. If it was easy everyone would do it." She did not say, if it gets hard, or it might be hard. She said the last circuit IS going to be hard. Those two sentences have stood out in my mind ever since that afternoon. They helped motivate me as I completed my career as a collegiate athlete, and have stayed with me through the many challenges of life. That day she taught me to expect a challenge rather than by surprised by one.
Her words also remind me of the words in John 15: 19-20
19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.
In the same way my coach told me to expect the challenge, John is telling us to expect the persecution. If Jesus, God's perfect son, had to endure the hatred of the world, then we can also expect to face forms of persecution. This does not mean that we will necessarily find ourselves crucified to a tree, but we will suffer the pain of hurtful words, exclusion, and in some cases even physical abuse. This is not meant to discourage you, but instead to realistically prepare you for the persecution you will face in life.
Many Christians today, claim to be His followers, but they are conforming to the world because it is easier to live life of this world instead of a part of His world. Jesus never promises us that our Christian walk will be easy, but he asks us to live for him anyway. He asks us to claim His promise that He will never leave us, no matter how hard life becomes. He asks us to find our hope and joy in Him and His gift of eternal life, instead of in the approval of the world.
Those four months of conditioning seemed to last for a year, but they made me a stronger basketball player, just like the trials and persecution will make you a stronger Christian.
I know that it is hard to be different from the crowd or left out of the group. I know all to well what it feels like to be an outside, but do not give in to this world. Do not quit on your relationship with God. Being a Christian is definitely not the easiest life to live, but you do not have to live it alone. Jesus warns us that this life is hard, but He is willing to walk through it with us.
Deuteronomy 31:6
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Are you going to be one of the few that is determined enough not to quit? Are you willing to be strong and courageous, so that you may be made stronger in Him?
Photography by Kimberly Wynn
Photography by Kimberly Wynn
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