18.09 | Don’t Fear the Wall

2 Timothy 4

‘…preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.’

2 Timothy 4:2

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When you run a marathon, they say, runners often hit ‘the wall’. 

‘The wall’ is a moment of fatigue that usually hits about 18 miles into the race. It comes when energy reserves are depleting and lactic acid is increasing. It’s a moment where physicality gives way to psychology, needing to find the mental grit to push through exhaustion and keep running.

I’ve only ever run one marathon, and, as I prepared, people kept on warning me about the wall. 

And so, on race day, I began cautiously. I jogged along, feeling good, feeling strong, enjoying the sights of Edinburgh and the Musselburgh coastline. 

I hit eighteen miles. I felt fine.

Nineteen. No problems.

Twenty. Feeling surprisingly fresh.

At twenty-four miles, I realised the mistake I’d made. I’d run way too slowly for my actual fitness. I’d jogged when I could have run. I’d been so cautious about overdoing it that I’d completely underdone it.

I’d feared the wall.

I nearly sprinted those last two miles (which was fun), but finished the race a little disappointed—a time on the clock that I know undercooked my ability.

Paul’s words today are the final words we know of that he shared with Timothy. Paul is in Rome, chained up in a Roman prison. His execution is pending. He knows he’s reached the end of his life. 

But when Paul looks back over all he has done, he can say something with confidence:

I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.

He ran the whole thing hard. He didn’t jog when he was born to run. He didn’t hide when he was called to step out, or stay quiet when he was born to speak. Paul didn’t fear the wall.

It’s impressive. It’s inspiring. But Paul’s words are not there to impress us, but to form us. Because Timothy is still running his race. He’s got miles to go. He’s in the ever-crucial moment of Now—this day, this moment, this place, this opportunity.

And Paul returns Timothy to the call that has peppered his life ever since he became a believer:

Preach the word.

For Timothy, this is his area of gifting. It is what he was born to do. If it was you he may have said Build that business; or Love those kids; or Remove that cataract. The Father has sculpted purpose and gifting into each of us. Gifts to use. Resource to steward. People to love. Strengths to utilise. A call to follow. 

But then Paul presses his words a little harder:

Be ready in season and out of season.

In season is easy. In season, for Timothy, is when people were listening. It is when the numbers are high, the compliments are flowing, and people are being transformed. In season is when your obedience leads to impact. In season looks good. In season feels good.

Out of season is harder. It is when people disagree and criticise. It is when people reject Timothy in favour of other teachers. Teachers with more charisma. Teachers who say what they want to hear. Teachers who make them feel good. For the unwise heart always gravitates to the advice that affirms its existing wants, rather than seeks the truths it most urgently needs.

And, my friends, it is out of season that we tend to fear the wall. It’s not working. We’re not having the impact we hoped we would. People aren’t listening. In such moments, the temptation is to doubt our stamina and to doubt our calling. The temptation is to back off, shut up, and slow down.

In season advances the cause we care for, but out of season tests the conviction of the soul. It reorients our confidence from the measure of our success to the call of our Saviour. It roots a race well run, not in extraordinary results, but in extraordinary obedience. 

Friends, run your race. Do not fear the wall. Exercise your gifts and your strengths and your love in season and out of season. That on a day to come, you may sit, with wrinkled hands folded on your lap, and deep satisfaction in your heart, knowing that you ran your race.

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Reflect:

Does this season feel like ‘in season’ or ‘out of season’?

What do I need to ask from Jesus to continue in His purposes in this day?

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Pray:

Lord Jesus,

In season,

I desire to see great fruit.

I want to see you

Empower my life

Unto beautiful creativity 

And the marvellous extension of your cause.

Lord Jesus,

Out of season,

I want to live faithfully,

Consistently,

And courageously.

I want to keep showing up

When it is hard—

Not letting the opinions of others

Or the seeming insignificance of my efforts

Lead me to distraction

From your call.

And so,

Lord Jesus,

Build in me

Great endurance,

Steady faithfulness,

And the grace of impact—

That your cause may be established through me,

And loving obedience be established in me.

Lord Jesus,

In Your Name,

Amen

Old Testament: 

For those also reading the Old Testament this year, your additional readings are here:

1 Chronicles 6-7 | Psalm 109:1-20