Running Lines

"Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." Psalm 126: 5-6

In the movie Hoosiers (one of my all time favorites) Gene Hackman plays the role of new basketball coach Norman Dale, at a little school in Indiana called Hickory High. This school had a very small basketball team that had never achieved very much in that basketball mad state. Coach Dale set the goal of winning a state title before them, and the way that they were going to achieve it was through team play, fundamentals and hard work...lots of hard work. In fact at the beginning of his tenure there, for the first few practices, the team didn't even pick up a ball, they just ran ran lines over and over and over. This physically and mentally exhausted the kids - some even quit. They were not used to this type of suffering in practice. When they (or their parents) complained, Dale simply said, "my practices are not designed for your enjoyment."

What his practices were designed for, whether the kids realized it or not, was to shape them into champions so that they might achieve their goals. The torturous hard work of running lines got them into shape and brought them together as a team. The corporate tears they sowed in practice eventually led to (spoiler alert for a movie released in 1986) them reaping the joy of the Indiana State championship, beating a team much bigger and stronger than them. I don't think that it would be hard to argue that without the blood, sweat and tears of suffering at practices those boys would not have enjoyed the State title. Coach Dale put them through difficulty in order for them to reap amazing joy. I have no doubt that the moment they won that game and experienced the joy of achieving their goals - that all their suffering and toil was forgotten.

I don't know any player who really enjoys running lines, it's hard work that is not a lot of fun - but any player worth his salt will tell you that unless you do this hard work, you will never achieve your athletic goals. As they say, "no pain...no gain."

The Christian life is a lot like running lines at times isn't it? We hurt, we strain, we suffer under the difficult circumstances of life. We work hard at serving our Lord, only to be persecuted, or laughed at. As long as their is sin in the world, life will be hard - "we will sow in tears and continually go forth weeping." Sin and its effects are not pleasurable, our bodies and souls were never designed for sins enjoyment. We were designed for righteousness and God's unfiltered presence. Friends, life will be hard and beat us down.

But our goal is heaven - our hope is victory in Jesus!

We run the race to gain the prize - the salvation of our souls. We shall reap in joy at the harvest because all our suffering and toil will be forgotten the moment we see our saviour face to face.

I never liked running lines, but the thing that got me through was focusing on my goals and not the present struggle. Even in the midst of our earthly struggle, may our eyes be fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

Be God's, Scott