Radical Resilience

For the last few years, I’ve followed the story of David Goggins, a former Navy Seal who has since spent his time after the military pursuing a variety of physical and mental challenges to push himself. He often posts short clips on YouTube or social media of him yelling at the screen, sharing quick tips to be strong and improve yourself. At the end of his videos, he always says the same thing: stay hard!

David Goggins is a special example of resiliency. His ability to exercise discipline and pursue hardship is close to unmatched. But there’s another element of fortitude that goes beyond pursuing challenging tasks, and that is our faith in God. Since being a Christian in America doesn’t come with as much of a cost, it’s easy to forget the labor of ministry that God has called us to in him. As an example, Paul shares the following command in 1 Corinthians:

“Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

The work of the Lord he is referring to is our ministry to the unreached world and the service to our Christian family. In this, there should be resilience. Theoretically, Christians should be the most resilient people in the world.

The key to our ministry is that it is not done by ourselves. Right before the “therefore,” Paul says this: “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Christ paid the way for us, breaking the power of sin and death and giving us the strength to be resilient. We aren’t lonely laborers on an island, we are faithful followers persevering for the good of our ministry. We are resilient because he makes us resilient.