To All Those Who've Reached Their Limit...

The very fact that you are reading this is most likely proof that you have reached your limit in some area of your life. You know what it's like to be driven to a state of despair.  To a place where you have had all that you can possibly take. 

I want to encourage you, no, to urge you with all that I am, not to quit. 

You read those words and you might be thinking, "Ashtyn, you don't understand my situation. I literally can't go on."

I want to show you the purpose and power of perseverance, real perseverance, through one of my favorite movie scenes of all time.

If you are a Christian who is into football, then you've probably seen or at least heard of the movie: Facing the Giants. Perhaps you're not a football fan and you don't find joy in yelling at your TV on Sunday afternoons, but you have still seen this movie. I want to invite you to flashback to a scene with me and if you've never seen it, I'll try to explain the scene as if you were watching the movie:

To set the stage,

A high school football team is on the field during practice. All the teammates are sitting down and the coach is talking to them after practice. Then comes the voice of one of the players:

"So coach, how strong is Westview this year?"

"A lot stronger than we are." replies a teammate named Brock. 

"You've already written Friday night down as a loss Brock?" says the coach.

"Well, not if I knew we could beat 'em."

The coach calls Brock up in front of the team along with another teammate named Jeremy. 

"What, am I in trouble now?"

"Not yet, I want to see you do the death crawl again except I want to see you do your absolute best." 

To do the death crawl, Brock has to walk a certain number of yards across the field with his knees off the ground using just his hands and feet, with Jeremy on his back. 

"What, you want me to go to the 30?"

"I think you could go to the 50." 

"I can go the 50 if nobody's on my back."

"I think you can do it with Jeremy on your back. But even if you can't I want you to promise me you're gonna do your best." 

"Alright."

 "Your best? You're gonna give me your best?" there is a surprised tone in the coach's voice.

"I'm gonna give you my best."

"Alright one more thing, I want you to do it blindfolded." 

"Why?"

"I don't want you giving up at a certain point when you could go further." 

Brock gets down and Jeremy gets on his back. He starts crawling. The team laughs while some shake their heads. The coach is walking down the field, guiding Brock with his voice:

"There you go, a little bit left. There you go. That a way Brock, you keep coming."

As Brock crawls down the field, his teammates are watching and talking among themselves. They are sure that Brock won't make it to the 50. They laugh with each other. The coach keeps encouraging:

"There you go Brock, good strength." 

Brock crawls on.

"Am I at the 20 yet?"

"Forget the 20, you give me your best. You keep going. That's it."

 Brock starts to slow down.

"Now, don't stop Brock. You got more in you than that."

"I ain't done, I'm just resting a second."

"You've gotta keep moving. Let's keep moving. Let's go. Don't quit."

"That's it, you keep driving, keep your knees off the ground. Keep driving." The coach's voice raises in intensity. "Your very best. Your very best. Keep moving Brock. That's it, that's it, that's it. Keep going, don't quit on me!"

The crowd is no longer laughing among themselves, now they are just watching. Brock keeps going and the coach keeps encouraging, keeps motivating. One by one, the teammates start to stand up to see how far Brock has gone. At this point, Brock has already gone a good amount of yards.

"That's it, keep driving. Don't quit until you've got nothing left." 

Music starts to play, telling us to pay attention.

"It hurts! He's heavy." moans Brock. 

The coach, looking to the field and then back to Brock, sees the reality that Brock must keep going and that he can't quit now. He gets on his hands and knees and starts talking to Brock and sliding alongside him as Brock tries to find the strength to keep going. 

"I know he's heavy!"

"I'm running out of strength!"

"Then you negotiate with your body to find more strength but don't you give up on me Brock. You keep going, you hear me?'

The teammates are now walking towards them, following them slowly as they keep going. 

The coach realizes that he must raise the intensity in his voice in order to urge Brock to keep going.

"YOU KEEP GOING, YOU DON'T QUIT ON ME, YOU KEEP GOING."

"IT HURTS!!"

"I KNOW IT HURTS, YOU KEEP GOING! 3O MORE STEPS, YOU KEEP GOING BROCK! C'MON!!" 

"IT BURNS!!" 

"THEN LET IT BURN! YOU KEEP GOING BROCK, C'MON! C'MON, KEEP GOING. YOU PROMISED ME YOUR BEST!"

Brock cries out, "IT'S TOO HARD!" 

"IT'S NOT TOO HARD, YOU KEEP GOING!! C'MON BROCK, GIVE ME MORE, GIVE ME MORE."

Brock is moaning in anguish as he can't go much longer, yet still walks on, still persevering through the pain.

"KEEP GOING!! 10 MORE STEPS! KEEP GOING!!"

"I CAN'T DO IT."

"YES YOU CAN. YOU CAN. 5 MORE, 5 MORE!!! C'MON BROCK. DON'T QUIT, DON'T QUIT. 2 MORE, 1 MORE!!!"

Brock falls to the ground, Jeremy slides off, and the music fades. The team stands in the distance, in silent amazement. 

With his head in the ground, Brock says, "It's gotta be the 50 , it's gotta be the 50, I don't have anymore." 

The coach gets down next to him and takes Brock's blindfold off. 

"Look up Brock, you're in the end zone."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love this scene because I find it to be a beautifully real representation of our walk with God. Many times in life, we are faced with death crawls. We are faced with situations and things that seem utterly impossible to walk through.

And I think that often, we get God wrong in these times. We view Him as a God Who will deliver us from any and every trial. But I believe and I know that He allows us to go through really hard times and trials. As Christians, it's easy to believe that we won't face trials or that when we do, God will make it so that it doesn't hurt. But the truth is, God promised that we would have trouble: "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world." John 16:33. 

Don't get me wrong. I definitely believe that God can and does deliver His people from trials. We see it throughout Scripture and we could point to many examples where God revealed His glory by delivering His people. But we also see the flip side to that, where God was glorified in the trials and through the pain of His people. I don't blame you if you want the first kind of manifestation of God's glory, I do too. But if we experience God's immediate deliverance, we miss what happens in the dungeons of life. We miss the beautiful transformation of a heart that has learned to endure to the end. We miss what God can do in us during difficult times. We miss the kind of love we see in God that can only be seen in the middle of a death crawl. The love that urges and exhorts us to keep going, to not give up. And most importantly, we miss the kind of relationship with God that we can only experience in the pain, the kind of relationship that drives us to desire nothing besides Him. 

I want to challenge you to think about times in your life where you have faced the death crawl. Maybe you are faced with one right now. Maybe you are standing at the starting point, too afraid and paralyzed to walk on for fear of pain and failure. Maybe you've had the courage to walk some.

If you're like me, then you've had you have the same mindset Brock had in the beginning of the scene. You are convinced that the trials in your life are a lot stronger than you are. You've prayed for God to take the pain away: "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but Yours be done." (Luke 22:42). God, the Coach, thinks that you can make it. He's asking you to surrender to Him, to give Him your very best, and to walk. You walk and you start to go, blindfolded. You can't see what is ahead. Your Coach can. You are being guided only by the sound of the Coach's voice. It starts to hurt, it burns. Yet you keep walking and you keep going. The Coach is urging you not to give up, He's urging you to keep going, to give Him your very best. You continue to walk and now your arms are starting to burn, your legs are starting to feel numb. You're losing strength. The Coach knows that you have more in you, He continues to guide, to counsel, and to urge you to stay on the field. You keep walking, now the weight on your back is so heavy. It's getting harder by the second to hold the weight up. The Coach's voice rises in intensity, for He can see the field and He knows that you can't give up now. "Don't give up, you keep going!  That's it. Give Me your very best! You don't stop until you've got nothing left!"  You barely have any strength left, yet you persevere. You're not sure how much more you can take. You're moaning and crying out. The weight is so heavy. You continue to find the strength to listen to the Coach's voice. Then, when you've gone all that you can go, you fall to your face, you have nothing left to give. You collapse and all the burdens fall.

Your Coach bends down, takes off your blindfold, and says, "You made it. Look up, you're in the end zone."

No matter how scary, impossible, or unbearable your death crawl may seem, don't quit. Don't give up. Don't stop until you have nothing left. And don't do it without your Coach because you'll fail. The only way you will be able to endure to the end is through the strength of the Sovereign Coach. You can do it, even if you're teammates laugh and don't believe you can. Even if your burdens seem too heavy and even if you're arms and legs burn like nobody's business. When it's especially hard, lean on Him. Let His strength guide you at all times. In His strength, you can do all things. And when someone you know is going through a death crawl, don't just sit on the sidelines. Stand up and urge them to keep going! Cheer them on along with the Coach. Follow them and don't let your teammate quit until they've got nothing left. 

So whether you or your teammate is faced with some sort of giant in life, persevere. Keep going. Your Coach will be with you until the very end, walking with you every step of the way. Don't quit. And give God your very best. 

And when you've gone all that you can go, when you given all that you've got, look up....

you'll be in the end zone. 

Scripture Weapons to Use When You've Reached Your Limit:

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." James 1:2-3

"I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

"My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9

"For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised." Hebrews 10:36

"But the one who endures to the end will be saved." Matthew 24:13

"In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world." John 16:33

"Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but Yours be done." (Luke 22:42).

"Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13-14



~Ash