Many years ago our pastor called a young man to the front of the church. Pastor placed a pencil on the pulpit and said to the young man, “I want you to try to pick up this pencil.” The young man obliged, so he thought and picked up the pencil. Pastor then looked at him and said, “I didn’t ask you to pick that up, I asked you to try to pick it up.” Pastor then took the pencil from him and placed it back on the pulpit and said, “Now, try to pick up the pencil.” The young man was dumbfounded.
The remainder of the sermon was about how we cannot try to follow Jesus, we just begin putting one foot in front of the other and follow Him.
I recently heard another sermon about this very thing from Pastor Craig Groeshel at Life Church in Oklahoma City. Pastor Craig used the metaphor of an athlete—as did Paul—to describe what our faith life should be like, saying “athletes don’t try, they train.” He then went on to relate that when we have a trying mindset, we “give ourselves permission to fail.” But, why is that?
Why is it that our trying can knock us out of phase?
As I stopped to consider this, it became clear to me that when I try to do something my focus is not fixed on the goal but rather on the effort, which can sometimes seem daunting, futile, and unsatisfying. At its core, to piggyback on my previous blog post, trying is all about doing, while training is all about being or at the very least becoming.
When we adopt a training mindset our focus is one hundred percent in phase, our eyes are fixed on our goal, our purpose, and our why.
So, in much the same way we must learn to be and not do; we just also learn to train and not try. I have heard it said many times “where our focus goes our energy flows.” When our focus is on our trying our energy will be drained. However, when our focus is on our goal our energy will be renewed because the progress we are making will serve as increased motivation.
As the Apostle Paul reminds us, we will not “grow weary” and our focus will always be in phase when we take our eyes off of the effort and focus them solely on Jesus.
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, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:1-3 (NIV)
