Knowing God through His Word … Day by Day

Coty Pinckney, in a message “Train Through Pain Yet with Joy for the Race of Faith”:

As we noted, Paul tells Timothy: “Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” [2 Timothy 2:3)

All of you who have run regularly know there is some degree of pain involved. Certainly all of you who have run on a track or cross country team know a great deal of pain is involved.

Interval training is one important part of preparation for distance runners. When running intervals, athletes run for a particular distance — say one lap, 1/4 of a mile then rest for about 90 seconds, then run again. This allows the body to run a cumulative distance of, say, two miles much faster than would be possible by running with no rest. But about halfway through a workout like this, if you are running hard, lactic acid begins to build up in your muscles, legs begin to get stiff, and maintaining pace becomes difficult – and, at times, painful. This is the whole point of the workout –teaching your body to run well in race conditions, when your muscles begin to get stiff and tired. Completing the workout is key to reaping its benefits.

Interval work at sea level is tough, but it is even tougher at altitude, where each gasp of air provides less oxygen. When I was teaching high school in Kenya in 1977, I coached track and cross country. Our school was at an elevation of 5000′. I well remember a workout one hot afternoon, when I had scheduled seven intervals of 330 yards for my athletes. After they finished the sixth, I could tell they were tiring, so I encouraged them: “Good job! You’re doing great! Just one more, and we’ll be done for the day!” My best runner Joseph replied, addressing me by the Swahili word for teacher: “No, Mwalimu, we are too tired, we can run no more.” I responded, “Yes, Joseph, you are tired — it’s almost the end of the workout, you’re supposed to be tired. Running when you’re tired makes you stronger!” “No, no, Mwalimu,” Joseph replied, “running when we’re tired doesn’t make us stronger. Running when we’re tired only makes us more tired.”

We often feel that way in the Christian life. “I’m tired, Lord. How can I keep going? There’s no benefit to my continuing. There’s no point in going on.” It doesn’t seem like this pain can produce anything worthwhile.

But Paul tells Timothy in his first letter:

Train yourself for godliness; 8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 9 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. 10 For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. (1 Timothy 4:7-10)

Becoming godly, becoming a person whose focus is on Christ, requires training. It does not happen automatically when we place our faith in Jesus. It requires TOIL. It requires striving (another athletic word for competing in event).

But Paul does not only emphasize the pain. He also says, It’s worth it! Unlike athletic training, which is valuable in this life but not in the new heavens and the new earth, training in godliness is of value FOR ETERNITY. So it’s worth a lot of temporal pain, because Jesus is our hope, both now and for all eternity.

The pain of interval training is worth it – in part because it is a necessary step towards achieving our goal of winning the race.

The pain of growing in godliness is worth it – in part because that pain is a necessary step towards achieving our goal of glorifying Him for all eternity.