Go Through vs. Grow Through

You often hear of those that have had great successes having at one time experienced great failures.  The maxim that you have to go through the bad to experience the good is one we often repeat to our players and to ourselves.  While the truth that hard times are to be expected to set up the good is one we should accept and allow to give us patience, it shouldn’t numb us to examining what our part is in the hard times we may be facing.  Hard work is a given but hard times may be caused or at least prolonged by things completely within our control.  If you got under a weight on the bench you couldn’t get up, laying there under it isn’t going to change that fact. It will take time, discipline, and WORK on our behalf to be able to come back to it and move that obstacle.  It’s not just our job to ENDURE the hard stuff, it’s our job to work to get out of it by growing our skills, strength, knowledge, and character.  Will we go through hard times?  Yes.  Will we grow through them?  Well, that’s more up to us than we often realize.

Prayer Watching

During a workout on the beach recently I had several thoughts come together on prayer in an unexpected way.  It’s well-known that there’s something magestic in watching dolphins be themselves when you have the time and opportunity.  It reminded me of a few truths related to our prayer lives

1. Just because you know it’s there doesn’t mean you now where it will be seen next.  I tried to time the patterns of those I watched assuming intervals and directions would be fairly consistent.  At times this was the case but often times they were nowhere to be found.  God’s timetable and our own are often not the same.  As frustrating as this is, it makes the time’s we do see His work that much more special.
2. Expect something big when you least expect it.  While most of the time is spent seeing just a fin or occasional tail slap, sometimes, you get a full jump.  You have to be looking for it.  God can take a prayer you haven’t seen answered for so long you’ve stopped asking and show you it was never off His radar.
3. It’s easier to see when you’re not by yourself.  9 of 10 times I see them either with a partner or in a group..  Sharing our prayers with others gives us strength.

There are more that I could share but that’s enough for now.  Hope you can enjoy this perspective the next time you’re blessed with this experience.