The ability for moss to grow defies logic.  How can something so green and beautiful grow in impossible places without roots?  Moss thrives on rocks and other surfaces where growth seems impossible.  In short, moss excels at enduring through unlikely circumstances.  Through years of intense physical suffering, I have learned that God can also sustain and give me strength to endure despite seemingly impossible situations.  

In the midst of suffering, I simply want to survive another day, another hour, yea, another minute!  I want to endure. But I need to bear in mind one crucial lesson; I can’t endure on my own strength.  I have both succeeded and failed in relying on God’s strength.  I can attest that the simplest way to endure on His strength is to cling to Him.  Hold onto Him with everything I have, despite the pain.  Make a determined effort of my will to trust Him, even when I don’t understand and can’t possibly grasp why!  

In addition to trusting and clinging to Him, three truths, among many others, have given me strength to endure.  First, God loves me.  Second, He is Sovereign.  Third, I have a limited, temporary perspective. 

Today was a hard run.  I did not want to run.  I was tired, sluggish, had a headache and had zero motivation. I wanted to quit after the first quarter mile. I ran my usual route.  It’s not like I had never run this terrain before and had to face unknowns.  I knew where the hills were; I knew where the flat parts were and even the downhills where I could catch a reprieve.  Each day, I run with a set goal in mind of how far and how well I will run.  But this morning, I quickly realized my run was not about how well or how quickly I completed my run, but that I simply completed it.  The goal was finishing.