The #1 Ingredient to Winning your Race
THE #1 INGREDIENT TO WINNING YOUR RACE
I have been on a board that oversees 40,000 pastors from 150 nations for close to twenty years. Our Chairmen always says, “If God has called you to win your race, then God-forbid you don’t win that race.
God has called each of us to a particular race. We better not only run it, but we also better win it. Personally, my life has been marked by a great deal of tragedy that I could use as a reason to come in 2nd, 3rd, or even last. My dad died while I was still young and my mom had a stroke a year later in her 40s and became my responsibility well before I was ready to take all of that on.
Did you know that 2/3rds of the people exposed to severely traumatic events do not end up with PTSD? The other 1/3rd certainly have strong reason to be traumatized. Life altering, cruel events experienced as a child, involvement in a crime, or at war has lasting impact. Yet, there is a term called “resilience.” This well studied area evaluates while some people who go through what can be horrifying events or endure seemingly impossible circumstances go on to lead productive and even exceptional lives while others are continually hindered from PTSD, spiral out of control, or become paralyzed forever with mental illness.
Those who succeed do so not only despite these terrible traumas, but even because of it. Many vow to overcome desperate beginnings, succeed on behalf of fellow soldiers they’ve lost, or to prove their parents, teachers, coaches, and everyone else wrong who told them they would never amount to anything.
When it comes to resiliency, much of it will come down to a world-view. If you believe that God loves you so much He sent His only son to die for you, the voice in your head narrates your story redemptively. Redemption means rescue or delivered. When you fully accept God’s love, unmerited grace, and mercy you look at the most difficult circumstances and terrible experiences through eyes that believe God still has a good plan for your life. No matter how dark the times, you know in your know-er that God is preparing you for something better.
Through the experience of my dad dying of a heart attack the night before our vacation together and my mother suffering so badly from his death that she had a stroke the same year, I had two choices. One, pull back or completely give up. Two, make saving lives my purpose, passion, and ministry. Knowing God is my Father and Christ, my redeemer, lives I thankfully chose choice two.
At CCC, we don’t want to help you just to breathe, but we also want you to live! One thing worse than dying is dying with your music still in you— with your destiny unfulfilled. If you’re alive, God wants to give you something to do—a purpose and a cause that is greater than yourself. We want to help you find what God has called you to do and I want to show you how to win at it!
We all have a destiny and a critical race to run and win. God-forbid we don’t win it.
With God, all things are possible
Dr. Ben