Hebrews 12:1-4, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Fiona Bridges

Every so often I like to set myself a challenge. Something that will keep me on my toes, push me beyond my limits and draw out every bit of determination I possess.

My latest challenge was to row the Boston Marathon; a 31 mile race from Lincoln to Boston renown for attracting only the super keen or insane!

The first part of the challenge was finding someone else to race with me. I must have asked about 20 well seasoned rowers and every single one of them responded with something along the lines of 'no way, I'm not that mad'! After two months of being turned down I finally found someone else who liked the sound of the challenge!

For the next month I trained like never before, rowing up and down the river 12 - 16 miles at a time; early in the morning and late in the evening when my partner was down to train with me and when I had to train by myself. It was hard work, but I just kept on reminding myself, 'I'm reaching the finish, I'm going for the prize'!

Finely the big race day came. I knew I had put the hard work in and my sights were set on the finish line. We warmed up, stretched, launched the boat, then suddenly we were off!

After the initial pre-race nerves, the first 8 miles went fantastically well. We were rowing strong and taking over other crews. We had moved into the lead for our boat category and knew that if we just held off the crews behind us we would win!

Then suddenly out of nowhere a head wind set in. It was a rowers worst nightmare! The wind belted fiercely against us driving in the exact opposite direction to the one we wanted to go in. Every stroke was like fighting a battle and as the waves splashed water into the boat it became heavier and heavier!

10 miles later the wind still hadn't let up! I can't quite explain what it's like rowing 10 miles against the wind, but I remember reaching the point of crying out to God...'Lord, I know you are with me...please, please calm this storm'.

I hoped that suddenly the river would transform into a mill pond and the rest of the race would get easier; yet half an hour later the wind was stronger than ever!

Again I cried out 'Lord, please calm this storm'. Instead of the wind calming I suddenly felt God remind me of a verse from Matthew 8:27 'even wind and waves obey Him'. Being rather proud of my scripture recollection I responded with 'yes Lord, that is why I am asking you to calm them'.

Then it dawned on me, God's words to me actually meant that at this point, it was not his will to step in and calm the storm. The waves were in his hands but so was I and that in itself was enough.

With this change of attitude I determined that I would not give up! With literally each stroke I told myself that crossing the line would mean more because I had worked so hard for it!

4 hours, 30 minutes and 2 seconds later I did cross that line and what's more, in first place!

About an hour and a half later after all the crews had finished, my partner and I were presented with our trophies. As I took hold of the crystal glass I felt God speak to me again, 'now, wasn't that all worth it'!

The answer...

A resounding yes!

When we commit our lives to following Jesus, we begin a race far more challenging than any marathon! Sometimes through that race we are faced with massive storms. We cry out to God, yet some storms continue. It is not necessarily that God has engineered the storm, but that for some reason we can't understand he has not divinely stopped it. What he has promised, is that he is with us through the entire race, he is our strength when we are weak and when we cross the line he is waiting with the most priceless trophy of all!

So next time you feel like you are rowing against the wind try to think of the whole picture, visualize the finish line and remember it is definitely worth it in the end!