Faith In The Right Direction Can Yield Great Blessings
On May 6th, 1954 Roger Ballister did the undoable, broke the four-minute-mile barrier that had plagued track runners for decades and since then over a thousand runners have broken the four-minute-mile including 5 high schoolers. It is becoming more and more common and in 1997 Daniel Komen broke eight minutes for two miles. This is an average pace of two sub four-minute-miles back to back, that is some serious foot speed. Roger Ballister stood as a testimony that running sub four minutes in the mile was possible. Now the thousands of athletes who have accomplished this fleet serve as witnesses to the future generations as well. Commitment, discipline and endurance pointed in the right direction can yield great blessings.
I raced my last race before London this past Sunday. At this point I cannot get any fitter, all I can do is just maintain. The five-hundred yard swim, six mile bike ride, and a two mile run is my favorite course to race because there is only one way to race it, “Fly and Die!” Sunday morning my four-minute-mile barrier was thirty-five minutes, a goal that I had set 2 years prior. In the history of the Santa Barbara Triathlon no one has ever done it, gone sub thirty-five. The closest was by Mike Smith in 2005 with a time of 35:03. In 2011, when I raced this course last, I finished with a time of 35:26 and since that day I have wanted to go sub thirty-five.
I never go into a race thinking I am going to win and Sunday was no exception. I was nervous, very nervous, and for two reasons. 1) I was not sure if I could break thirty-five minutes. 2) My good friend and training partner, Jason, was racing along side me and I new he was there to race and race hard, if not win.
As nerves began to build and doubts of not being fit enough began to flow through my mind. There was one principle that I leaned upon, Faith. Believing and trusting in my training, remembering all the moments that I have pressed through the grueling time trials, gut wrenching intervals and the volume of work that I have put in these past 9 months; thousands of yards of swimming, hundreds of miles running, thousands of miles cycling and my top finishes against some very accomplished athletes. When it comes to Triathlon, faith in myself and faith in my training is imperative. More often then not I tend to drift in the direction of doubt. I tend to doubt the abilities that God has gifted me with and mentally defeat myself because I see other competitors that look leaner, fitter and tougher. Why? I do not have an answer. I do not know where it comes from but doubt is always lingering. Having faith seems to take me to the proper mindset and bring tranquility to my anxious nerves. I have learned that faith in the right direction can go a long way.
With Jason along side me and faith in my training, we both were able to break the thirty-five-minute barrier and we pushed each other all the way to the finish line. Relieved and only a few strides ahead, I was able to finish in a time of 34:22, a new course record. On Sunday, with the clock against me, my good friend and opponent on my heals, faith in myself and in my training was a good thing and yielded a great accomplishment but faith in a certain someone is far better.
A Spiritual Thought or Two
The Great Cloud of Witnesses and The Hall of Faith
In a similar fashion there have been many who have exhibited great strides of faith. To the Hebrew-Christians plagued by religious persecution, the writer of Hebrews encourages these doubting Christians with the characters of the “Hall of Faith” found in Hebrews chapter eleven. Together as a whole, each of these iconic characters serve as a great cloud of witnesses just like the thousands of sub four-minute-mile runners to the future generations of runners.
Like a beautiful tapestry, its threads woven together, the “great cloud of witnesses” found in Hebrews the twelfth chapter and verse one is intertwined with the Great Hall of Faith found in Hebrews eleven. The Hall of Faith describes some of the many Biblical icons who have demonstrated great strides of faith in the midst of difficult circumstances. These remarkable men and women stories stand out to encourage and challenge our faith. From Abel offering up a better sacrifice, his first fruits to God, to Noah building the Ark in the midst of great opposition. Its hard to imagine the faith that Noah had in God while building a giant boat.
I often look at some of these characters as ultra holy, far beyond reach and far better than myself when it comes to trusting God and exercising faith. A closer examination reveals that the lives of these men and women did not always exhibit great faith, conversely, some of their actions could have landed them into the “Hall of Shame.” Abraham and Sara did not trust that God would bring them a son but instead Abraham took Hagar, his made servant, and birthed Ismael. Noah had a weakness for wine. He became drunk and passed out in his tent, making himself an embarrassment to his sons and Moses doubted God because of his own personal inadequacies. These men and women are just like myself today faced with difficult circumstances in life but called to trust God. In the midst of doubt I am called to have great strides of faith just like the iconic characters of the Hall of Faith. The doubts I am alluding to do not pertain to triathlons but rather living a godly life. To often I doubt God’s promises in scripture when I should trust in them because He has shown to be faithful to the generations past.
The great thing about having faith is that it does not involve trusting or believing in myself but rather trusting in someone who is far better, Jesus Christ and he proved it with his resurrection. When it comes to living a godly life even when circumstances might dictate another direction I am reminded of the “great cloud of witnesses” and the great strides of faith they exhibited. Five-thousand years of Jewish history has shown that God’s way is the better way and when we doubt God we miss out on the amazing things that he has for us. Faith in the right direction can yield great blessings.
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