On The Grinder

That Damn Bell

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
~Henry V~

Just outside of Coranado, on the California coastline sits a place where thousands of men have come to compete in a test of endurance.  This is Naval Amphibious Base (NAB) Coranado, home of the Navy SEAL's.  In the midst of the silver strand coastline along the Pacific Coast highway sits a large asphalt area where thousands of potential SEAL's come to exercise daily and, if that is their choice, to walk up to the bell at the edge of the grinder and put an end to their misery.  As one SEAL so aply said, "the only thing we ever feared was that damn bell."  For each and every SEAL, that bell came to symbolize weakness, inability and defeat.  It's where those who couldn't hack it went.  Granted, not all the men who ever tolled that bell ended up being unworthy, they just realized that they weren't up to the challanges of being a SEAL.  I thought about that damn bell on the grinder the other day as I was putting myself through yet another workout at the local gym.  Now, my workouts are NOTHING compared to what potential SEAL's go through, but to me they matter.  To me it's personal.  Indeed, how many times have many of us come to that point where we wish to God that there was a bell there to end our discomfort?  After all, isn't that all these situations we wish to avoid are?  Something we definately do not feel comfortable doing?  There's a reason why one of the SEAL's most oft used phrases has come to be "the only easy day was yesterday!"  How many situations have we encountered where, if we had endured, we would have come out that much stronger?  I've lost count of my own.  See, I'm not good at uncomfortable situations.  I tend to avoid those circumstances which are difficult for me.  However, there is much wisdom in the knowledge that going through hard times helps us grow personally.  I'm all for it, I just don't want to endure it.  I guess I'm like many christians, let God work in the lives of others, I'm doing just fine.

7For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1: 7 NKJV

Another thing I thought about that day at the gym was who exactly I was inside.  I remembered that inside me lived one who has faced much more than I will ever dream of enduring.  The apostle Paul tells us in Galations that the very same man who bled and died to forgive our sins, now lives in us today {Galations 2:20}.  So, was it the voice of Christ Jesus who was urging me to quit that day?  I think not.  For the desire of Christ is for my well being and health, never for defeat.  Were I to ring that bell, it would never be Jesus who gave me the idea.  One thing many christians need to realize about Jesus comes from a well known verse.  In Philippians 4:13 Paul tells us that we can do all things "Through Christ who strengthens me."  However, what if we tweaked that verse a bit to explain what we already should know?  What if, instead of seeing ourselves as being able to do all things through Christ, that we proclaimed loudly that Christ Jesus IS our strength?  After all, this is precisely what Paul was proclaiming, right?  As Paul claimed, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me."  Paul, as a individual, was out of the picture.  We're out of the picture now.   All that remains is Christ Jesus who is in us.  Did jesus ever ring that bell?  Hell no!  Despite having ample opportunity to take the easy way out, the thoughts of Jesus were never on the quick and easy exit.  No, the thoughts of Christ were continually on why He was here in the first place.  He saw the big picture.  We can see the big picture as well.  We can set our eyes on what is real and true in the moment.  Once we know what is truly important, once we realize our one true identity in Christ, we will see ourselves not as one standing alone, but as one in the strength of Christ.

~Scott~