Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary, His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might He increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:28-31
Years ago, a gentleman named Dan Long was my personal trainer. Dan is very knowledgeable when it comes to physical fitness. He happens to be an Orthodox Christian. And he uses a phrase “Killmode Training” as his motto. “Killmode” actually has nothing to do with killing anything, but is a mindset he uses when working out, or training someone else, like me, a buzz-phrase that calls on someone to complete reps even when tired, or to push oneself as far as they can go, and sometimes maybe a little farther than they think they can go physically. When I would work out with Dan, he would say “Killmode” on the last ten percent of whatever exercise I was doing as a way to get my adrenaline going and get me to complete what he was wanting me to do. Dan is a good friend, and when I would train with him, I would tell him to treat me just like his other clients, “Killmode” phrasing and everything else.
It’s hard to do the right thing when one is tired. We lose focus. We get “hangry” when we are tired of waiting for food, and sometimes just get cranky or grouchy or more easily irritated. We all experience this in life, some more often than others. Thus, one challenge to faith is staying focused on task, on God, even when we are tired. There are at least two ways that this can be done.
When we are tired, as our bodies slow down from fatigue, ironically our minds speed up when it comes to being angry. We are slow to act, but quick to feel. When this happens, when you become slow to act, purposely work at slowing down your thoughts. This is a great time to offer a prayer. And the prayer might be as simple as “Lord, slow down my thoughts, give me an infusion of patience.” Stay focused on the task, all the way to the end. If there is 30 minutes left until there is some relief—either eating, or rest, or whatever is going to be restorative—divide up that time into increments, for example, ten minutes, and at each increment offer a short prayer that you can bring the task or the time to completion and not lose focus. Going back to the example of working with the trainer, if I was doing thirty reps of something, I was more intentional about the last ten than the first twenty, more deliberate in making sure each one was completed.
The second suggestion here is to use some kind of phrase for yourself, perhaps something like “God-mode”, and self-talk, get yourself motivated to get to the end and not quit. There are many short phrases in Scripture, especially in the Psalms, that you can say in one breath:
I love Thee, O Lord, my strength. Psalm 18:1
The Lord is my shepherd. Psalm 23:1
The Lord is my strength and my shield. Psalm 28:7
Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation. Psalm 38:22
Help me, O Lord my God! Psalm 109:26
Today’s quote is from the book of Isaiah. Isaiah prophesied to God’s people after they were exiled into Babylon. They were tired and discouraged. They weren’t coming to the end of a set of exercises and trying to push through. They didn’t know when the end of their exile would be, or if it would end. And for some it didn’t end, they died in exile. Isaiah wrote to bring hope to people, not for moments of hardship but for years, for generations.
Sometimes in life we know when relief is coming—we know that the next meal is an hour away, or a set of reps in the gym is only moments away from ending. And sometimes we don’t. Sometimes the things from which we need relief do not end for a long time. Sometimes they go for our whole life. In those moments when we think we can’t walk another step, we have to not only trust in God, but look deep within ourselves and find reserves of strength we didn’t think we had to keep on moving forward. We pray in our divine services, “let us commit ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ our God.” That means in some people’s lives, to keep going knowing the road isn’t going to get any easier. Perhaps that is the greatest challenge of Christianity, to continue to trust in God and walk with Him even your tired and there is no relief in sight. However, we have to know that God sees and knows everything, that He gives us strength to keep going. And that He gives reward to those who finish the race.
Lord, thank You for everything, even the hard times. Please give me patience when I’m struggling. Please help me find the extra energy when I don’t think I can walk one more step. Please send Your angels to cover me and carry me in the times when I can’t seem to carry myself. Please help me know that I’m not alone. Please help me continue to trust in You. Guide my steps, may they all be to Your glory, the easy ones and especially the hard ones. Amen.
God-mode! Keep walking!
