Reading Time: 3 minutes

As I finished my last training run yesterday, it hit me…

I’m done.

Sure, there’s the small detail of actually running 50 miles on Saturday, but as far as getting ready for the biggest run of my life, there’s not a single thing left to do.

I’ve run almost 600 miles over the last several months.

I’ve posted countless updates on social media.

I’ve tagged numerous news outlets (hopefully it has increased the traffic for WBTV, WSOC, WCNC, FOX News, Fox & Friends, The Ellen Show and all the others!).

I’ve interviewed with the ones who responded (thanks SO MUCH for the coverage FOX46, 1010 WSPC and Stanly News and Press!!).

And now, there’s nothing left to do but run.

I told people early on that all I could control was the running, and it’s so true. I’ve got no control over the weather, the media coverage or even the amount of money we raise (although I am BEYOND THRILLED to be over 25% funded BEFORE I even take the first step!!).

We can’t ever waste energy on what others may be able to do, because at the end of the day, the only real question is how did WE spend the day? Did we do everything we could for others? Did we do everything we could to make sure we were in the best position to help others?

In other words, did we do what we could or just complain about what we couldn’t?

[Tweet “Have you done what you could or just complained about what you couldn’t?”]

If I’ve learned one thing during this whole process, it’s this: Do what you can do now while you dream about what you can’t do yet.

[Tweet “Do what you can do now while you dream about what you can’t do yet.”]

So many times we get paralyzed by the size of a problem. We see the enormity of a situation and quickly forget that if we do what we can, the likelihood of others joining in and doing what they can often creates a movement that can quickly grow to be much bigger than the problem.

It could happen, but it won’t happen without someone – anyone – going first.

And I’m not first. The organizations I’m running for are. Today, there are numerous groups fighting human trafficking because, years ago, Christine Caine decided that she’d do something, and A21 was born. Justice Ministries in Charlotte exists in large part because of the avalanche of awareness that A21 has brought to the issue.

Sure, running 50 miles is going to hurt, but the scariest part in all of this has been the thought that I might go through the pain of it all and not succeed in raising the funds and awareness that are so desperately needed to set 50 people free.

But when it’s all said and done, the only control we have is whether or not we’ve done what we said.

[Tweet “When it’s all said and done, the only control we have is whether or not we’ve done what we said.”]

The wisest man to ever walk the planet was onto something when he wrote words that echo in my soul every time I feel the panic of taking on injustices that are far bigger than me or my abilities:

Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. (Proverbs 3:27)

That one verse screams at me, and hopefully, at you, too. There is good to be done, and we are in a position to do it.

Don’t withhold it.

No matter what others do or don’t do, make sure that YOU do good.

[Tweet “No matter what others do or don’t do, make sure that YOU do good.”]

When enough of us do, the solution will begin to paralyze the problem.

 

Reading Time: 4 minutes

As I scrolled through my social media feeds this morning, I saw post after post all saying the same thing. Some used words, others let the pictures do the talking, but almost all of them had the same message – “Happy New Year!” – and most of them were, well, happy.

There were a few outliers, some pictures taken of people who were sound asleep on couches and chairs after fighting valiantly (and losing) to see the new year, but the people who took the selfies next to the sleepers were smiling. So, that counts, too, right?

Many of the posts had to do with what the new year holds. The hope that 2016 will be better than 2015. The belief that whatever we didn’t achieve last year will finally be achieved this year.

I agree. I think 2016 will be your best year ever, but only if you learn to practice one skill.

The truth is that, although everyone says Happy New Year, it won’t be happy – in fact, it can’t be happy – for all 366 days (yes, it’s a leap year!). There will be times when things don’t go well, and some of those days are going to be bad.

Jesus said as much in Matthew 5:45 when he told his disciples that rain was going to fall on everyone at some point. If he was standing in Times Square and saying that verse today, it might have sounded like, “Great selfie, but you know it won’t always be smiles and confetti, right?”

Case in point? One of the families I was celebrating the new year with had a flat tire as they were heading home a few hours before midnight, which prompted me to yell out, “Crappy New Year!!”

Sure, technically that happened in 2015, but I think you get the point. Every year, every month, every week and every day has good and bad, and if you want all those goals, dreams and resolutions to happen this year, then you’re going to have to master the art of recovery.

We can learn a lot from professional golfers.

I don’t play a lot of golf, but sometimes I watch golf on TV. Especially if I want to take a nap. But I remember watching one of the majors back when Tiger Woods was at the top of his game, and he had just hooked a drive deep into the woods.

Woods was deep in the woods.

As Tiger paced back and forth trying to decide what his next shot would be, the announcer said something I’ve never forgotten. In so many words, he said that what sets professional golfers apart from all the rest of the golfers isn’t that they never make bad shots, but that they’ve learned how to recover from them.

[Tweet “Learning to recover well from moments that don’t go well is crucial if 2016 is going to end well.”]

That’s the skill that will allow you and me to end 2016 with the same hope that we began it with. Learning to recover well from the moments that don’t go well is crucial if 2016 is going to end well. Recovery allows us to remember that even though everyone will fall, it’s only the ones who stay down that will fail.

[Tweet “Everyone falls, but it’s only the ones who stay down that fail.”]

So, how do we get up when we want to stay down? Here are 3 quick exercises for your soul when it feels like your happy has gone to crappy.

Recognize

Job had one of those years when happy turned to crappy in a hurry. He had lost it all, everything except his life and his wife, and she begged him to curse God because of it. His response should be ours.

He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said. (Job 2:10)

Men, I’m not suggesting that you call your wife foolish (that’ll start the new year off badly!), but I am pointing out the importance of recognizing that God is behind it all, and he can use it all in order to accomplish his purposes. God doesn’t give us tension to punish us, but he can use tension to awaken us!

[Tweet “God doesn’t give us tension to punish us, but he can use tension to awaken us!”]

Refocus

God doesn’t want the bad times to awaken us to some cruel fate or to some wacky belief that the universe is out to get us. He uses the tension of hard times to awaken us to his sovereign power that allows us to stand in the trial until he delivers us from the trial. Need proof? Check out 1 Corinthians 10:13.

[Tweet “God’s sovereign power allows us to stand in the trial until he delivers us from the trial.”]

Sometimes we get jacked up wondering why he doesn’t deliver us when we want to be delivered, and we waste a lot of time and energy asking questions that, in all honesty, will never have a suitable answer. So, instead of spending a lot of time looking back at how our golf shot ended up in the woods, we’d be better off looking ahead at how we’re going to get it to the green. That’s what Paul was talking about when he wrote these words about staying focused:

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)

Remember

I love that for Paul – and us – it’s never just about forgetting the past. Lots of people spend lots of time and money trying to do that, and they just end up frustrated, broke, and seeing a happy new year in January turn into a crappy old year by December. Paul knew there was more to it than just forgetting: the power comes from remembering, too, as long as we’re remembering the right things.

Things like God’s mercy toward us, his redemption of us, and his plans for us.

[Tweet “We can get back up on the bad days, because we serve a God who offers new mercy for the next day.”]

Remembering those truths allows us to get back up on the bad days, because we serve a God who offers new mercy for the next day. Somehow he can take bad days and turn them around for our good and his glory.

So, when you hit a bad shot this year – and you will – see it as an opportunity to master the art of recovery. Recognize God’s hand in it, refocus on where you’re going, and remember that God’s got more than enough mercy to get you there.

I can’t guarantee that you’ll be a better golfer, but I know this: you’ll end 2016 with the same hope you had when it started.

And that makes for one incredibly Happy New Year!

 

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Yesterday I watched for 3 quarters as the Carolina Panthers surgically destroyed the New York Giants and built a lead of 35-7. For most of that time, Cam Newton looked a lot like a MVP.

But it was what I saw at the end of an unbelievable comeback by the Giants and/or meltdown by the Panthers that really caught my attention.

It was right after Odell Beckham, Jr. caught the game-tying touchdown.

It was in the middle of a 79,436 person celebration in MetLife Stadium (well, minus the stunned Panthers fans who were there).

It only lasted a few seconds, but when the cameras caught Cam’s face on the sideline, he didn’t look like a MVP anymore.

For a moment, he looked like Jesus.

I should probably explain before I’m accused of heresy, so let’s start with some Scripture. It’s found in the book of Luke (Luuuukkkkkkeeeeee), and it takes place right after the disciples had a spat about who would be the greatest and right before Jesus puts their pride in its place by highlighting that there is actually a cost to following him.

As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. (Luke 9:51)

That verse was a throwback to an ancient prophecy found in the book of Isaiah describing what would be done to Jesus and how he would respond.

I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting. Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame. (Isaiah 50:6-7)

Now, back to Luke (the book, not arguably the best defensive player in the NFL). Jesus, knowing that his mission is a cross on the way to a crown, and knowing that the stakes could not be higher nor the opposition fiercer, set his face like stone and feet toward the place where he would complete his mission.

What’s a face set like stone look like, you ask? A lot like this:

It looks like Cam on the sideline with less than 2 minutes to go. Not dropping his head. Not mad at a defense who inexplicably folded like a paper bag under the pressure of a crazed, desperate Giants team.

Just a face that says, “I got this.”

Now…….

Forget football, because as exciting as this historic run by the Carolina Panthers is, it’s just…football.  But the truth that there is a Savior who stepped out of eternity to become like us so that we could become like him? That’s true. Absolutely 100% true, and it means everything.

It means that when you and I find ourselves on the wrong side of a satanic avalanche…

When we find ourselves in the middle of an enemy ambush that has flipped our world from victorious to vicious…

When we get up off the mat after having struggled mightily only to have failed publicly…

We can look to the author and finisher of our faith – the King Jesus, born in a manger in order to be raised a Redeemer – and we will see that face.

[Tweet “King Jesus was born in a manger in order to be raised a Redeemer.”]

A face set like stone.

Resolute on his mission to rescue us and restore to us a hope that seemed lost…

A life that seemed gone…

A grace that we could never have earned.

[Tweet “The enemy that may rattle us will never rattle Jesus.”]

All because the enemy that may rattle us will never rattle Jesus.

He tried, but all he saw was a warrior’s face – set like stone – sending one message to our foe.

“I got this.”