“Remember that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize. You also must run in such a way that you will win. All athletes practice strict self-control. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step. I am not like a boxer who misses his punches.” - Paul, 1 Corinthians 9:26-27

Up here at 11,000 feet in the summer Colorado mountains, its’ easy to lose your breath - both at the thin air quality and the beautiful mountains, creeks, and valleys. It’s very peaceful, not like a city peaceful, where no one’s out and about, but a mountain peaceful, people stopping to gaze at the mountains (drinking their starbucks of course) and walking slowly in the cool mountain air. It’s costly but worth it for many people looking to escape with loved ones to the creation, whether they know yet of the creator, whose beauty and majesty are here only glimpsed.

There’s plenty to do and see, far more than one could do in a week - though I feel like we’ve done a ton in our time here (hiking, rafting, golfing, skating, etc.). It’s been a blast, an exhausting blast, but thankfully not short on lessons, memories, and new confidence and vision from the Lord.

World-class athletes come to places like Colorado, not just to ski, hike, or raft, but to train. They do this because the thin air provides a greater resistance to their lungs while exercising their sport. Runners will run up and down the mountain trails, huffing and puffing and feeling the burn. At first their chest feels like its going to explode, and that they simply won’t be able to press on, but after awhile, they find their breath coming and going more easily, and their bodies responding well to the air that is conditioning them. The key is, they recognize the prize for which they work, and they allow themselves to be put in difficult spots that they may attain their eagerly desired reward.

After rigorous discipline up here in the mountains, they return to the place they live, somewhere like New York, Florida, California, Texas, or farther. And when they do, they absolutely fly. The track seems like their own personal runway, and they simply take off! The difficult environment of the mountain terrain and air has trained and disciplined them to run their race like a champ in the normality of their usual climate.

The same reality exists in the spiritual realm, as Paul notes above, and although we often don’t understand, the Lord puts us in situations and circumstances that are difficult and cause us to lose our breath easily. Many people shrink back from this, saying it is too much, too difficult, or they reject the Lord’s plan for them by finding something a bit easier outside of His will. The only thing is, God is teaching them to fly. He’s teaching them to gain endurance, perseverance, strength, and character underneath the pressures that seem to hold them down. He’s teaching them how to live a supernatural life within the natural, how to live on bread and feast on the eternal. But hold them down these goads do not, form one that “wins the crown” they surely do.

For me, I have, by God’s grace sensed a uncanny nearness to the Lord here. It’s strange, as I didn’t spend long hours of prayer and fasting preparing to come out here, but the fact is, Jesus longs and wants to meet with me all the same! And He’s been speaking to me, and its wonderful, and I feel a sweetness in my spirit, and its wonderful, and I feel light and in love, and its wonderful. And I think to myself, how come faith and vision isn’t always this easy?

And I hear, and I think, and I feel, and I recognize - that the place I live, in College Station, is like my rigorous training ground. The Lord has me there, and He is training me to fly. And I will. I must. The athletes come here to train, and then they go back to win. I am there to train, and then I will win, whether its in the same geographic location or not. I’m not at all talking about a difficult physical, financial, or relational situation, but a spiritual one.

I believe there are intangible realities that hold us (Christians in the city) back in College Station (right now), but we must realize one and the same, we must not shrink back, we must not lose hope, we must not find an easier reality, but we must “discipline our body” to seek the living Christ, learn from Him, and realize the far greater reward that awaits us as we diligently follow His word and command to us individually and corporately.

And I believe He’s given me a foretaste of that greater victory to come this week through our fellowship. And I don’t deserve it, any more than the next guy, but I DO have the choice - whether or not to make the most of the ups and downs of those mountain trails, losing hope and casting away vision, or screaming for joy as I lose my breath for the reward that awaits me!