By Patrick Kimathi
In the concluded common 2018 Commonwealth Games in London, there is one man who gave Uganda glory. Joshua Cheptegei run both the 5,000m and 10,000m final at the Commonwealth Games and won Gold.
For you to do 12 and 24 field laps, you must be able to time yourself to endure. You cannot run the 5,000m race the way you run the 10,000m race. Participants move at a high speed, yet with endurance.
As Cheptegei outrun everyone during the 5,000m and 10,000m final, I remembered the World Cross-country Championships that were held in 2017 at Kololo. He was unable to endure, at about two kilometers towards the end of the race, Cheptegei’s knees gave in and he walked to the finish line in 30th position apparently injured.
But I believe with time, strict training, he learnt how to endure. He learnt His lessons and understood why things went wrong.
I want to talk to you about endurance. Often times in life, we are called upon to stand and endure. We can do whatever we can but, it gets to a point where we have to portray endurance.
Life is not always easy, and was not meant to be – even for Christ Himself, life was not easy. You need to learnt to endure, and pray. Endurance is a secret to victory and success. I believe there are things in life you have endured. Even when we become Christians, sometimes things don’t quickly work out so well, but we endure and see the results.
When you are in school you endure so many things because there is a reward kept for those who endure. I want to encourage someone, I know you have been pushing in life – financially, business-wise, and things are not coming out so quickly, learn to endure.
These are things we rarely speak as Christians. These days our Christianity has become more dramatic, but I believe these are the same principles that must be learnt. If Christ endured, we too must endure. He endured the suffering of the cross. You can never be crowned a victor unless you have endured. endurance is the ability to go through an experience without giving in.
As Christians we need to also learn hat strict training in our lives is very key to be able to attain anything. That is why Paul compares the life of a christian to a race (2 Timothy 4:7). It is not a race of giving up. We are not called to be people who quit, but those who push on till the end.
The call to any race is to reach the finish line. It is having the strength to make it all the way whether it is in your business, marriage, education, relationships, ministry or Christian life. As Paul says; Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14).
Hebrews 12:1 says; Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
I must also say, if we are to finish we must look unto Jesus. God has set before us this race with the intention of seeing us through till the end. It is not about being swift without aim.
Sometimes we over estimate our selves. We think we are too good and cannot fail, sometimes we over glorify ourselves thinking we so good and miss it. But today the Lord is reminding us of strict discipline. There is a God who gives us a power to endure. It is God who strengthens you and gives you patience as you wait in prayer.
There are people who have a lot of talent, but are unable to use it to be successful because they have over glorified themselves. We have seen people who are great musicians fail to succeed because of self glorification yet there are those who are very moderate, but go through strict discipline and out succeed the others in life. There is an author and finisher of our faith – there is God who gives us the power.
Patrick Kimathi is a Pastor at Praise Cathedral – Ntinda and Chief Operating Officer at Jubilee Insurance Ltd.
