When your Game Face is Tired

Welcome to another week of our Everyday Jesus link-up. Be sure to link-up below this post, comment on your neighbor’s blog and share with your friends… Because Jesus is everywhere, every day!

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Fact: I am not the Energizer Bunny.

If I had my way, I would be– the person that just keeps going and going and going… But ’round these parts, I am all about being authentic. So endless spiritual energy is not a thing for me.

And I think if we are honest with ourselves, we will agree to this truth: Even the strongest Christians’ game faces occasionally get tired.

On any given day, at least one of my regular game faces is a little bit weary: my army wife game face, my mama game face, my minister game face, my fitness game face.

Before I continue, let me explain a little bit about our so-called game faces. It is just how it sounds– we are facing a task or challenge and put on our “game face.” We are totally ready to rock and roll with all of our strength.

It’s like when I get motivated and sign up for a half-marathon at 11pm one night. Then when I am on my long training run the next week, all I can think is, “Well, this was the silliest idea on the planet. I am tired. I want to sit down. I wonder if they will refund my money if I cop-out? Whose idea was this ANYWAY?!”

Recently, my army wife game face was getting really tired. Hubs had been gone for a while and the rah-rah-shish-koom-bah-Go-America attitude that I had at the beginning was now a “Oh-Jesus-in-Heaven-help-me-through-today-and-remind-me-where-I-hid-my-emergency chocolate.”

So with my chocolate in hand, I turned to His Word. And wouldn’t you know it… He had a message just for me (and probably you too.)

“Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!” ~Hebrews 12:1-4 MSG

In the NIV, it mentions “run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” At the bottom of my study Bible, the note struck a deep chord in my heart:

“The mark of a Christian is perseverance. The Christian life is pictured as a long-distance race rather than a short sprint.”

Oh, hey there Jesus– heard ya.

So in what seasons of life is your game face most often tired? How do you cope? What changes do you need to make in order to persevere? Leave a comment below.

I am on a quest to be a long distance runner who hates it less every time I strap on my shoes, to be a mama with just an ounce more of patience, to be the army wife who can withstand all red-tape multiplication. Jesus understands when our game face is tired in our everyday. He got tired from time to time too. But He kept going.

He is our inspiration. Our coach. Our cheerleader. He is the foundation of our everyday race.

So when your game face is tired, take a deep breath. Grab a drink. Get yourself a much-needed Jesus pep talk. And keep on running.

Persevering with Christ,