Perseverance

We have a lot of tricks that we do to make things harder on our girls at softball. We do a lot of things in a way that it puts a little added pressure on them to do things correctly and with hustle. One of the things that I have noticed is that the girls that start off rough, and unable to accomplish a lot of what they need to are the ones that end up making better game day players. Let me explain.
We have this drill that after they are done warming up their arms they get a distance of third base to second apart. They then throw back and forth to one another 10 times as fast as they can. When they have completed that they take a knee and the winner doesn't have to run, do push-ups or sit-ups. The rest do. So it has extra added incentive. But, in our findings the girls that finish somewhere in the middle between about the 4th group to about the 8th group are the ones that don't seem to get much better. The ones that finish in the last few groups tend to eventually succeed even more in their own little ways. Mainly because they are new to the teams, new to the coaches, already nervous and now they are having to make the throws with every coach and player watching them. It's pressure that pushes them to succeed. THen, in game times those girls,(the later finishers) after developing the proper techniques and skills will start to come through in game situations.
James 1:2-3 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
There it is, in our faith walk we need some high pressure tests. The people who have been tested the most, and passed it the most will eventually be the ones who come through for God in major ways. It's the people that crumble with every minor little detail that end up having problems no matter how strong the appear to be. God sends trials, He allows us to be tested so that our faith has something to stand on. Your belief grows every time you shake off a little bit of doubt and face whatever life throws at you with a confident faith.
So stand tall in the face of trials, and take that one step farther. James says we should, "Consider it pure joy" because that trial is God making and growing a stronger faith inside of you.
Thanks for reading and have a great day!