Something I wrote last week:

Sometimes when I train in the morning, I hear the loud roar of the sea as she greedily sucks the tide into her abyss against her will, groaning with the knowledge that she will have to release it again in a few short hours, and I stop. I wonder why I’m actually here on a tiny tropical island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, drowning in the aromatic scent of guava and tiare, watching the sun rise pink over the lagoon.

I remind myself that I’m here to train, not just physically, although some mornings my body aches and I can hardly muster the strength to rise. The truth is, my spirit aches more. I’m training for a vision that doesn’t come from myself, for a goal that comes directly from the Father, a goal that I might never see accomplished on this side of heaven, a vision that isn’t just for me, but that many hands have toiled for throughout the years.

Paul writes, I press on toward the goal that is set before me. Sometimes it is a constant pressing. We can get so lost in the day to day we have to stop and physically remove ourselves from what we are doing and ask God to once again give us His heart.

God is pressing for this, the salvation of the world. It is His passion, His heartbeat. He lives for the lost, literally, He died so He could rise again and offer true life. God is training me so I can accomplish His purposes.

It makes the soul ache worth it!