"You can't keep this up." It's a phrase I've heard my whole life. You see, I inherited my sense of work ethic and energy from my mother who can conservatively be called an "Energizer Bunny". Ever since I can remember, I've been involved in sports, Boy Scouts, music, extra-curricular school activities, and a dozen other social and church activities. When I moved out on my own, I remained extremely busy. It's a trait that Meredith has learned to tolerate (if not encourage). I have little doubt that this level of energy is why my once beautiful head of hair is now entirely gone.
I've heard the phrase "you can't keep this up" many times in life because of this lifestyle. Any time I hear that phrase, I think of a story regarding General David Petraeus. General Petraeus, the former commander of CENTCOM and director of the CIA, is one of these figures who developed a lot of urban legends among the troops. In 2000, he was a 1-star general serving with the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg. While performing a civilian skydive, his parachute collapsed resulting in him freefalling briefly and impacting the ground at high speed. He broke his pelvis. As the urban legend goes, he was found merely a few days later, sitting up in his hospital bed with alarms going off, putting his uniform back on. When the nurses saw him, they said, "Sir, we are going to need you to slow down. You suffered a serious fracture to your pelvis. No average man is expected to recover this quickly." General Petraeus looked at the nurse and simply said, "I... am no average man."
I doubt things happened exactly like that, but it's a good story.
Some people are wired to be constantly busy and others have a more easy-going approach. We're all built different. Regardless of how you are built, the one thing that remains the same is that we all can experience burn-out when it comes to our spiritual calling. We can all experience weakness and all fall to a lack of motivation. So how do we keep going when we feel emotionally or physically drained? How do we "keep it up"?
12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes among you to test you, as if something unusual were happening to you. 13 Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may also rejoice with great joy when his glory is revealed. (1 Peter 4:12-13)
If we rely on our own energy and motivation to keep moving forward in our mission, eventually we'll get stuck. We'll slow down. We'll fail to "keep it up" at the same pace we once did. Fortunately, God created us to derive our power from something far greater than our own will.
20 For every one of God’s promises is “Yes” in him. Therefore, through him we also say “Amen” to the glory of God. 21 Now it is God who strengthens us together with you in Christ, and who has anointed us. (2 Corinthians 1:20-21)
God wants us to be of one mind in our calling, one mind of our convictions, and one mind of our faith. It is through this one-ness that we find courage and motivate to keep moving forward even when the body and the mind tell us to stop. I have no doubt that it was this one-ness of mind that helped the martyrs of the early church endure persecution at the execution stake and death in the Roman coliseum. Do you not think that some of these individuals wanted to just sit back and relax? Don't you think they wanted to just spend some time with their families? It would have been easier to give in to their weakness... to "not keep it up" and renounce their faiths... but they found strength in their one-ness with God.
So what's the key to being able to "keep it up" even when you're running ragged? Simple: don't rely on yourself. If it is of God, then God will give you the means and the strength to carry on. It may still not be easy or comfortable, but the strength will be there nonetheless.
This is what is meant when Paul write, "I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me." (Phil 4:13). Be strengthened and keep it up! You have God on your side.
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