This past Saturday, my seven friends and I climbed dangerous heights, dragged our feet across rugged terrain, and submerged ourselves in mud to complete the Spartan Beast, a 21K distance with 31 obstacles that tested our stamina, strength, and grit.
These are not my work or gym friends. These are my sisters in Christ. I get to do life with these people daily and serve alongside them in college ministry. So signing up to do the Spartan was another crazy idea with them!
I thought about my barriers for signing up, like how I tore my ACL over a decade ago, so my left leg is unreliable and gives me more issues as time passes. I was right about my weakness. My achy knees were in pain at the 4-mile mark, and I felt the long-awaited charley horse climbing up some rope. I looked to my left and right. My friends were either experiencing a cramp or were on the verge of getting one. We were all feeling pain and only a third into the race.
Beaten up by the afternoon heat and the distance on rough terrain took a toll on us. It was challenging as we approached each series of obstacles we had to complete together. At the halfway point, the luster and excitement evaded. Relying on our strength vanished. And as we came yet to another barren hilly terrain and awaited the next obstacle, I could not help but think about the parallelism of our Christian walk.
This is the experience of following Christ. And in my earlier years as a Christian and the constant temptation of today is to ride the waves of emotional highs, relying on my youthfulness to bounce back after any difficulty or suffering. Especially in my early 20s, which only lasted so far until I hit other valleys as I faced ego-devastating moments, the reality of my weaknesses, and circumstances in life that left me in pain and anguish.
Going through the Spartan reminded me of my frailty and weakness in life. I am sure of this. I would have thrown in the towel on the fourth mile when I experienced that charley horse. If not there, I would have thrown in the towel when I persistently experienced the charley horse on my calves, feet, and hands. Yet through the difficulty and suffering, I experienced joy despite my body and mind shouting to give up.
There was no way I could have finished the Spartan on my own. And no way I could run even a more worthy and glorious race than the one Christ has set me on to walk alongside my brothers and sisters in Christ. The seven friends carried me, told me to step on them to complete the obstacle, and the sweet fellowship of going through all of the physical beatings on that course together through the arduous nature. And during all of it, I was surrounded by good conversations, stories, and words of encouragement.
6.5 hours later, my seven friends and I finished the race and received our medals with great joy. And by God's grace, I would love to say the exact words of Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 4:7 for the ultimate race,
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
