Spiritual Stamina in the Time of CoronavirusSample

THROWING IN THE TOWEL

Throwing in the proverbial towel is easy to do when the going gets tough, and I'm guilty as charged. As a busy stay-at-home mom and entrepreneur, I've yelled, "I'm done! I quit!" numerous times. Have you ever felt that way? It's especially easy to throw in the towel now, in the time of COVID-19. Sadly, loss of life and livelihood are increasing, and "Stay-at-Home" and "Social Distancing" orders have given birth to quarantine fatigue and the overwhelming desire to go back to life as it once was. So, how do we move forward without throwing in the towel?

Did you know that the expression "to throw in the towel" comes from boxing? When a towel is thrown into the ring by the trainer during a fight, it signifies that the boxer must quit and accept defeat, so he doesn't incur more significant injury. Who knew?

How do we develop or reboot our spiritual stamina to avoid throwing in the towel in defeat? Why is that important? Because we live in a fallen world, we mustn't grow weary and fall to the enemy's hands. Most importantly, we require spiritual stamina to fulfill the plans God has for us. We have to be spiritually fit to deal with the many curveballs life throws at us. Just as a marathon runner needs physical and emotional strength to win the race, we need spiritual stamina to go the distance with God during every season of life. 

The Oxford dictionary defines stamina as "The ability to sustain prolonged physical or mental effort." Spiritual stamina is the ability to persevere with God's help and His strength. When we hope in the Lord, we renew our strength and can endure and persevere through anything.

Footnote: All images featured in this plan are from the illustrated Wiedmann Bible, a unique constellation of 3,333 images of the Old and New Testament, painted by German artist Willy Wiedmann (1929-2013.)