II Corinthians 4:16

When do you feel like your body is wasting away and your strength is drying up?  Maybe that’s at the end of practice, half-way through preseason or with one week to go in a long, difficult season.  How can we have our hearts renewed and find the strength to press through such feelings?  Today’s scripture gives us such encouragement.

In the second letter to the church at Corinth at chapter 4 and verse 16 we read, “Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”  Paul was aware of his friends’ perilous times and the physical toll it was taking on them.  He identified with their plight.

It’s the nature of competition and long seasons to wear down our bodies.  We can identify with these people and the outward wasting away of their bodies.  The wisest among us also know how to be inwardly strengthened, day by day in our hearts.

Here’s the challenge for us.  Can we trust our hearts to lead us to do the right thing, even when our bodies are crying out for us to quit?  Can we continue to find new strength through renewed hearts and press through the hard times?

As you prepare to compete today, trust your heart to the one who gives strength without measure.  Ask Him to fill your heart with courage and to enable you to compete strongly.  You will be amazed at how your mind and your body will respond to your heart’s lead.

Bible Reading Plan:
Song of Solomon 4:8-16
Jeremiah 52