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Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance (James 1:2-3, NASB1995).
The Greek word for “endurance” also means “perseverance” and “patience”. The Book of James also explains why we should desire endurance…
And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:4).
The Greek word for “perfect” doesn’t mean having no mistakes but “reaching a goal” despite the mistakes. The image I have is of a finish line in the last stage of the Tour de France®, after racing through hot sun and rain, in the mountains and along the seacoast, 21 stages over 23 days, with an average length of 100 miles each day. Riders finally finish the race in Paris on the Champs-Elysées at the Arc de Triomphe.
I ride a bicycle for exercise. My goals are to make it 32 miles, re-pass the teenager on an e-bike that just buzzed by me, keep from getting bitten by the chasing pitbull, watch out for cars opening their doors, realize that the car coming toward me is turning directly in front of me, and hopefully not end up in the ER from dehydration — all of which I’ve experienced.
And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance (Romans 5:3).
One time toward the end of a ride, I saw about 50 lady cross-country runners coming toward me on the bike path. Wondering how I would get through, they all simultaneously parted to one side and the other, leaving an open path in the center for me to ride through, while they all cheered — wow! I felt like Lance Armstrong (and I wasn’t on steroids). It was the only time in 35 years of riding my bike that I felt the thrill of victory, picking up my pace to impress, and trying not to gasp too loudly.
Thank you, cross country team, for giving me an imaginary finish line.
I recently read that cyclists over 50 years old shouldn’t be concerned about climbing mountains or having the best time in the “century” (riding 100 miles in a day), but having consistency. Fitness with age is best with regular intervals of effort. Averaging about 16 miles per hour, I burn about 2,000 calories in a two-hour ride; that’s four Big Macs®, but I typically settle for avocado and cottage cheese after a ride.
One Spring morning I stopped at the top of a hill to text my friend Rick Ives (who also cycles), gloating that I was out on the path while he was stuck at work. When finished, I placed my phone in my fanny pack, started riding down the hill, and remember thinking, “My fanny pack is loose; I better grab it before…”
I woke up an hour later in the ER. My fanny pack did come off and, with the downward angle of the hill, swung around and into the front spokes of my bike, causing the dreaded endo into a face-plant on the blacktop (yes, I was wearing a helmet).
And endurance produces character, and character produces hope (Romans 5:4, ESV).
Result of a dreaded endo into a face-plant!
My son-in-law recently asked me if my speed when cycling was getting slower. And my begrudging answer was, “Yes, about 1 to 2 mph.” Doesn’t sound like much, but in a two-hour ride, my younger self arrived at the finish line 2 to 4 miles ahead of my current self. But I won’t give up. I am a serial soloist (meaning I like riding alone), and while cycling, my worries and anxieties fade away into the natural endorphins released into my body.
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us (Hebrews 12:1, NASB1995).
Amen!