In the book The Way of the Wild Heart, John Eldredge talks about 6 stages that guys go through in their masculine journey: Beloved Son, Cowboy/Ranger, Warrior, Lover, King, Sage.
The Beloved Son is basically coming to know and accepting that you are loved and adored by your father, and more importantly, your heavenly Father.
Cowboy/Ranger is all about adventure. It's answering this question, "Do I have what it takes?"
I was reading about the Warrior stage this morning, which basically is building on the Cowboy stage and taking the confidence that you have and putting it to action...fighting for what's true.
Now this book is not just a book about growing up to be a man...it's about growing up to be a man in Christ. As I was reading today I kept thinking that this is where I'm at in my own faith life.
College, for me, I think was my time of accepting that I'm a Beloved Son of God. When I was called to Chicago, that was my Cowboy/Ranger stage...do I have what it takes to minister to these kids? Looking back on my experience I can also see quite a bit of the Warrior stage as well because there were many battles I had to fight, and as with any battle I came out wounded. But through it all I think I proved to myself that I do have what it takes...I do.
Now...I need to know how to fight. The devil is a strong enemy and he doesn't fight fair, which means I need to be that much stronger in my own convictions, in my own faith. I need to stand up for what I believe and for what I know is right. I think God has me in a great spot to help me build.
I've been very lucky in life. I've been blessed with a natural talent for almost anything. People have always joked around with me about it because things have always come easily to me: athletics, academics, the arts. I've never really had to work super hard to be good at anything. I could do well with minimal effort and if I tried, just a little bit, I could do really well. But that's not a good thing...at least not totally. Don't get me wrong, I really like being able to do a lot of different things...but I've never really had to fight for something.
As I said before, I'm training for my first triathlon...and it's kicking my butt HARD!! This is going to be a huge test for me. The training is hard. It's basically all new to me. I'm learning how to swim correctly. I'm learning how to race on a bike. I don't think I've ever run 6 miles at one time (I was a sprinter in track...not a distance runner). If I'm being honest...it sucks right now and it's only the first week. AND...I'm going to go through all of this training, all of this hard work...and I'm not going to win! There I said it. June 28, when I run this triathlon I will not be the first person to cross the finish line. I won't be second or third...I may not even be in the top half, but I'm going to finish and I think that's the lesson God wants me to learn through all of this.
I'm not going to win every battle. There will be times when I want to quit. But if I do the training. If I try my hardest. If I push myself to new limits. If I fight like I've never fought before then I will cross that finish line. I will be victorious....
I will be a WARRIOR!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
When you said "I'm not going to win"-- I think you're wrong. Sometimes placing as first or second, third, whatever is NOT the true definition of winning---in this case (as with a lot of other things in life) FINISHING is a very big win! You may not "WIN" by all accounts of what you're used to (placing, getting a trophy, medal, recognition) but I don't think you can honestly stand at the last point of what you accomplished in that race and say you didn't win-- you'll have won more than what you ever thought you would have. :D
ReplyDelete