Climb! PART 1

Training to Win

800 repetitions of 18" step ups while wearing 40 lbs.   That's the equivalent of taking one 18" step up with 16 tons on your back. This is just one of the 30 workouts the Leader Rakkasans used to prepare for the mountains of Eastern Afghanistan.  It's designed for the legs and the lungs, so that our Warriors can climb and patrol in high altitude while still being physically capable of dominant combat.  Can you imagine our Soldiers being told, "Those mountains will be tough, but you don't need to prepare.  Just sleep in during P.T.  We'll see you at work at 0930"? That would not only be foolish, but that would be criminally negligent leadership. 

Failing to Train

Nevertheless, this lazy, unprepared mentality is often what we are lulled into when it comes to being prepared for our personal life.  Life is hard! It throws all kinds of unexpected trials our way.  Every day we are met with challenges in every aspect of our life--work, finances, health, marriage and family.    How can we expect to withstand the rigors of life and still have the energy left over to actually enjoy it, if we’re not being trained to do so?  How can we confront disappointments and setbacks and still live with joy if we haven't been preparing our mind and our heart in such a way that empowers us to live life victoriously? 

The answer is simply that we can't.  If we fail to train ourselves spiritually, preparing our souls for the hardship of life, we will buckle under the pressure.  We will break somewhere, at some time, in some way.  We might lose our integrity at work; or lose our credibility with co-workers.  We might lose our temper with our kids or go deeper into debt.  Perhaps we will develop dependence on food or drink.  For many of us, it will destroy our marriages.  Even if we are fortunate enough to make it through the climb of a particular challenge, we will not have the strength left to actually enjoy the view.  Life will become bitter to us and we will begin to search frantically for something--anything--to fill the void and give our lives meaning. Simply put, we will lose the fight.

Learning to Train

That's why Paul exhorted his young friend, Timothy, with the following words:

… train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. (1 Timothy 4:7-8)

We need to train our minds and prepare our hearts. How do we do that?  Just like our Warriors prepare each morning for mountain combat with physical training, we need to subject our minds to the transformative power of the truths of the Bible.  We must open our lives to communion with God through the mystery of prayer.  We must share our lives with each other, learning from each other's successes and failures, and encouraging each other in the journey.  We need to hear what God's Word has to say and then learn to submit to the authority of that Word in our lives. 

Climb!

If we truly want to climb to new heights in our lives, we must conduct the spiritual training necessary to reach those places.  Training isn't easy.  But as we do it we will begin accomplishing growth and achieving new heights in our lives like we had only dreamed of before.  Take that first step.  Pick up a Bible today.