A couple Saturdays ago I went down to Hinson Lake in Rockingham, North Carolina, and ran around it 21 times.  At 1.52 miles per lap, that comes to a total of 31.96, which is just above a 50k, the common distance for an ultra marathon.  So, I ran an ultra and that makes me an ultra marathoner. Yay.  It also gave me a lot of time to learn a few things that can help church planters and other people crazy enough to take on big dreams.

The official results listed me at 20 laps, but it’s all good since I know what I did and confirmed it on each lap with the scorers and my Garmin.

LESSON 1: The bigger the goal, the longer the training.

I learned this lesson from my baby sister, Mary, who decided to run her first 5k the same time I ran my first 5k a handful of years ago.  I had followed a 9-week training program called “Couch To 5k” and when I told her the week before the race that I was running it, she said she’d run it with me even though she hadn’t trained at all.  The result? We both finished.  The point?  That only works on shorter distances, and only if you don’t want to do the best you can.

Can you imagine the result if Mary – or anyone else – tried to pull that off in a half marathon, a full marathon, or an ultra?  Disaster, and more than likely an injury and failure.  Bigger races demand lengthier training, and it’s the same with goals in life, too.  You just can’t pull off big dreams without advanced planning. Big goals are like big planes: they both need long runways to get off the ground, so plan, prepare, and then enjoy the payoff at the right time.

LESSON 2: The bigger the goal, the slower you go.

I would never want to say that pace doesn’t matter, but when you’re running an ultra, pace doesn’t really matter.  In fact, when I told most people that I’d run 32 miles, very few of them asked me how long it took.  Most of them responded with, “You ran how far???”

Short distances can be covered quickly, but trying to run an ultra at 5k pace will kill you and ensure that you don’t run much more than a 5k.  So slow down.  Stop being in such a hurry and take the time to enjoy the journey.  Sometimes at The Gathering where I pastor, I  feel the pressure that we should be moving faster, but the truth is that we’re 2 years old, and like any 2 year old who is trying to learn how to walk, we’re going to fall down a lot and stagger like a drunken sailor.  But thankfully, we’re also cute and people take lots of pictures.  It’s all part of the journey, and when you have a long view, it’s easier to stay in for the long haul.  Impatient people don’t run ultras, and if you’ve got big dreams, impatience will kill them faster than any other obstacle you face.

LESSON 3: Small things get bigger over the long run.

I’ve run a number of short races like 5ks and 8ks and I’ve never once stopped in the middle of one of them to pull my shoe off and remove a pebble, stick or rock.  Why not?  Because I can endure just about anything for 20-30 minutes.  But if you don’t give your attention to the little things that start to rub at mile 3 in an ultra, then chances are pretty good that you’ve got a blister, or chaffing, or worse by mile 15.

I heard about a study that was done once in order to determine what separated the good CEOs from the really great ones, and the number one difference maker was how quickly (or slowly) they dealt with personnel problems.  As a pastor, I am in a fraternity of other leaders who typically deal way too slowly with issues that only become bigger the longer they’re ignored.  So it’s much better to take the time to stop what you’re doing and deal with the issue.  If you feel like you don’t have the time to do that, re-read Lesson 2 and slow down. Don’t sacrifice the long term vision for some short term peace.  Chaffing is real and it hurts, both physically and spiritually, so if you feel some resistance, take the time to heal. Paying attention to the little things in a timely manner can keep them from growing into bigger things down the road.

LESSON 4: You can be tired and finish, but you can’t be stopped and finish.

I was tired when I finished, and many times was tired before I finished.  And as much as others will make you feel like what you’re trying to do should look easy, that’s a lie.  Big goals demand big efforts, and big efforts tire us out.  Period.

If you’ve been working on a goal that’s bigger than you – whether in ministry or business – then you need to understand that the sheer magnitude of the dream is enough to wear you out, and that’s not even taking into account the actual DOING of the dream.  Stop being surprised that you’re tired, and start finding ways to  catch a break here and there so that you can refuel and jump right back in the race.  The key to ultras is a simple statement that I have found is quite common among ultra runners: keep moving forward.  That’s it.  No one expects you to breeze across the finish line looking like a movie star who just stepped out of a salon.  The honor is in the fight, the perseverance, and the flat out, no quit attitude that refuses to stop moving.  The only way to not finish is to stop moving, so don’t stop.  You have more in you than you think, and if you’re a follower of Jesus like I am, then you DEFINITELY have more in you than you think because of His power.

Maybe you’ve run an ultra or accomplished a big goal, too. What lessons have you learned along the way?  Why not share them in the comments so that others can benefit from them, too?

Ok, I just used the title to get your attention, because this won’t be nearly as cold as those words sound. It isn’t so much that God doesn’t care about how we feel, but rather that God cares so much more about WHO we are than HOW we feel, because he knows that our identity can always carry us through bad times.

Think of it like this: emotions can be great indicators, but they are terrible identifiers.  If you or I are having a down day, we may feel sad and that can help alert us to things that we need to be aware of and can help us make choices that can lead us out of that funk.  But if we let that sad feeling tell us who we are – if we let it become our identity – then we don’t see ourselves as joy-filled followers of Jesus having a bad day.  Instead, we see ourselves as sad people, and that can be deadly.  In other words, our feelings may tell us HOW we are, but they should never tell us WHO we are.

That’s what God’s word is for.  Only God can tell us WHO we are, and it’s so important for us to begin to tell ourselves as the people God says we are – even if our feelings tell us something else.

So, does God care how you feel?  Sure he does.  But He cares more about WHO YOU ARE!  And here are a handful of things (well, if you have 8 fingers on that hand) that you can declare about yourself each day.  They won’t make you a better person, because Jesus already made you a new person on the cross.  But they sure can help fill your mind and spirit with the truth that defines you on the days when your feelings try to divert you.

• Today, Jesus allows me to live free from condemnation and full of confidence. (Romans 8:1; Philippians 1:6)
• Today, the love of Jesus makes me an overcomer…no matter what. (Romans 8:31-39, esp. verse 37)
• Today, the work of Jesus has prepared me to work for Jesus. (Ephesians 2:10)
• Today, I will choose to forgive others when they are at their worst, because Jesus forgave me when I was at my worst. (Colossians 3:12-13)
• Today, the power of Jesus in me means that I have everything I need for everything I will face. (2 Peter 1:3)
• Today, the value of knowing Jesus will impact how I use my time and energy. (Philippians 3:8)
• Today, the generous gift of Jesus allows me to live with a new heart that is generous like his. (John 3:16; 2 Corinthians 9:15; Jeremiah 24:7; Matthew 10:8)
• Today, I will live and give generously so that God can give more blessings to more people through me. (2 Corinthians 9:11)

This past Sunday our church – The Gathering – celebrated quite a bit.  It was the end of our second year since we launched the church in September of 2011, the first official Sunday in our brand new space and the opening day for the 2013 NFL season (I don’t need much of a reason to turn ANY event into a FOOTBALL event).  A couple of months ago I started praying that we’d see 300 people come on to the Kickoff event, and between the worship service (we had right at 200) and the people that popped by later to enjoy the inflatables, food and football, we probably saw around 250 people.  Not quite 300, but I’m not complaining.  It was a great day – quite possibly the best day – for our church since we began. The air was electric, and before and after the service there was that great sound of people talking in excited tones that makes the room feel like it’s alive.

But that wasn’t the best part of the best day.  The best part came much later, after the majority of the people had called it a day and gone home and just about 40-50 were staying till the bitter end of another Panther late-game collapse.  As I sat and talked with a number of people who had been with us, one of them said something that really made me smile, and for me – and all of you that are planted as members at The Gathering – this comment is what will always make me think of September 8, 2013 and say, “We won!”

One of the guests that had been with us for the whole celebration was talking about how much she enjoyed the service and how much she’d gotten out of the worship and the teaching, and so she asked one of our elders (and I’m paraphrasing here, but it’s pretty close to this), “So, what’s you church like on regular Sundays?”

The elder looked at her and said, “Pretty much like today.”

And that, church, is the win.  We didn’t put a fake foot forward, or try to blow up the building with a big show, or pretend to be anything other than who we are.  That lady could come back this Sunday (and I hope she does!) and, minus some hot dogs and a bounce house, she’d find that the air is just as filled with the excited anticipation of followers of Jesus waiting for HIM to show up big.  She’d find that we sing just as loudly and passionately on “regular” Sundays as we do on the “big” ones.  She would see that we devour the truth of Scripture just as much, laugh just as hard, and hug each other just as tightly each week as we did last week.

Shows are fun, and I’d never deny it.  But at some point shows are over.  The great thing about the awesome presence of God is that it doesn’t.  In fact, the promise of scripture is that his presence just gets stronger and stronger and stronger.

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

What that means for The Gathering is simple: the best is yet to come.  The plans that are being paid out for our third year will prepare us for EVER-INCREASING GLORY, and that means that this time next year, we’ll have even more victories to celebrate on another day that will be the best day in our church.

And the best part of that best day will still be what was the best part of this best day: who we are on one day is who we are on all the others.

And that makes me – and Jesus – smile.