“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” Romans 15:13

Resiliency is defined as the ability to cope with whatever life throws at you. When knocked down and out by challenges, those resilient return stronger and more steadfast than ever.

So how exactly do you do that?

One key is the ability to hope when life throws the hard punches.

When circumstances are difficult and beyond our control, it’s easy to lose hope and optimism. That’s why it’s so important that we prep ourselves. So how exactly do we prepare? We cultivate hope.

We do this by growing our faith. Hebrews 11:1, says: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” This famed portion of Hebrews is often referred to as the faith chapter, as the apostle Paul goes on to share stories about the life and faith of several Old Testament greats.

One of those is Moses. Moses’ life started off quite complicated. He was born in a time when his people, the Hebrews were enslaved by the Egyptians. They were poor, they had no possessions of their own, no rights and endured hard labor and cruel treatment. To make matters worse, the pharaoh at the time of Moses’ birth ruled that all Hebrew children under the age 2 be killed. Moses’ mother took a step of faith, saving his life by hiding him. Eventually she placed him in a basket and sent him down the river as his sister secretly kept a watchful eye. He floated to safety – the arms of Pharaoh’s daughter.

Complications continued for Moses despite a life of luxury in the pharaoh’s palace. He was always torn between two worlds. Moses would eventually choose the narrow path and follow God’s calling.

“By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.” Hebrews 11:24-26.

Moses answered God’s call to lead the Hebrews out of slavery. He had to face a hard-hearted ruthless pharaoh. Moses had many challenges leading God’s often stubborn and ungrateful people. The punches thrown at Moses were gut-pounding to say the least.

Through all this Moses remained steadfast. He kept His faith in God. He regularly communed with the Lord and built a strong relationship with Him. This increased His faith. This increased his hope. Moses saw a brighter future for his people and himself. He saw a future of freedom, productivity, and a deep closeness to God. He had hope for a better life. He cultivated that hope with faith in God.

As we face challenges and desire to be resilient, we can look to Moses’ example. Let us abound in hope!

“I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.” Genesis 12:2 NLT

This promise of God to Abraham gets at the heart of God and how He wants His people to live in this fallen world. As Christians, we are blessed by the grace and mercy of God in Jesus Christ to be a blessing to others. The blessing of others manifests itself in so many ways. One example is financial generosity. We are blessed at the Lord’s Gym tremendously by the generosity of our donors. Our donors make it possible for these kids to make friendships, learn how to be a good teammate, accomplish goals, learn the Lord’s Prayer and discover the love of Jesus.

Sometimes we as believers are unaware of the extent of the impact our blessing has on the lives of others. When we walk by faith in sacrificial giving, trusting God with the results, He does amazing things that we may not see or consider. The special opportunity to write thank you letters with the kids in our youth program gave me new insight into this. With Tauren Wells music playing in the background, these kids reached into their hearts and loaded the cards with sweet words and thanksgivings.

The kids started by writing the first names of the donors. We made changes to use titles of respect before the donors’ names. The kids also learned how to begin and end a letter with proper punctuation. The same financial blessing that enabled many kids to participate in our programming led to an opportunity for our children to learn how to write a thank you letter, filled with love, to an adult whom they have never met before. God is so creative with how He can multiply blessings. May we all re-commit ourselves to walk with this perspective, eager to bless others with anticipation that the multiplication is coming- all to the glory King Jesus!

Our second banquet last night was for the second graders, who finished third in the basketball league!

 It was a night of good camaraderie where we all celebrated their accomplishments together and ended up playing parents against players. It was a fun way to end a great season.

 Melissa, a parent of one of the basketball players, said the leauge helped her son so much. She made her way to practices and games from Covington throughout the season.

 “Where we live, there’s not an opportunity to play for younger kids at school,” she said. “We found out about the Lord’s Gym through their aunt and have been involved with football and now basketball. It really has been great for my son. He has a lot of energy he needs to burn off and this is a postive and productive way to do that.”

 She also appreciates the lessons that go beyond the game… like the talks about God and prayer. The coaches, she said, have also been a great influence.

 “Their love and care is so appreciated,” she said. “I just can’t put into words how grateful I am for these programs.”

 One young player said he loves the game and enjoyed the season.

 “I liked learning about basketball and about God,” he said. “I also learned to keep going and to never give up.”

 Coach Jeff said he grealy enjoyed the season despite the challenges at first.

“So many of these kids hadn’t played the game constructively before,” he said. “And they ended the season thrid in the league! I really enjoyed working with the kids and their parents. They welcomed me into their lives and it’s just been a grea experience.”

This young man is one of my leaders in our cycling ministry as well as other Lord’s Gym Ministries Panther sports. He and other youth meet with me twice a month during the winter to learn the fundamentals of bicycle maintenance. He and his friends repaired 9 inner tube tires from last season of which 8 were successful thus saving about $40.00 in equipment costs. He, and a select few, will assist the adult riders in guiding about 20 young riders on the the Ohio to Erie bike trail in June. It is a 326 mile adventure across Ohio. We will camp at each night. (Sound familiar?) I have started to raise awareness and funding for the ride with this post. To learn more go to www.YRAdventure.com. Share this with your friends and church too please. Message me for particulars. Consider giving at www.LordsGymMinistries.org/donate. Thank you in advance and stay tuned for more updates. 

In the summer of 2021, I had the opportunity to ride my bicycle across the United States along the TransAmerica Bike Trail. It was an exhilarating and life changing experience to complete the 4,427-mile trek. The scenic views, the people met, and the life lessons (also known as my take-a-ways) made for some great memories.

I also rode to bring attention to the Lord’s Gym Ministries of the Greater Cincinnati Tri-State Area and youth addiction through our Youth Resiliency Adventure. This year, the adventure for the Lord’s Gym Youth continues using cycling to help our youth develop greater resilience and grow stronger in the Lord. In 2022, a total of 21 young people will ride 326 miles across Ohio with the Lord’s Gym Ministries’ Resiliency Ride.

Resiliency is the ability to recover from setbacks, adapt well to change, and keep going in the face of adversity. It is an ability that we all need to acquire and nurture. Deep purpose and values are core qualities that fuel our resiliency. At the Lord’s Gym, we rely upon the Word of God to reveal purpose and instill values. Long daily bike rides over the course of one week, laden with responsibility and fun, provide the environment to exercise the seven personal attributes of becoming more resilient.

June 18 we will depart from downtown Cincinnati (1211 York St) to embark on one of Ohio’s greatest treasures – the Ohio2Erie Bike Trail. Over the course of the 6 days, we will cycle our way across Ohio (Cincinnati, Columbus, Akron, and Cleveland) while camping each night. Accompanied by adult riders and crew, the workload will be shared and enjoyed by all. I have cycled the route two times, and I have accompanied our youth on bicycle rides from Cincinnati to Niagara Falls with City Gospel Mission two times.

One of my favorite experiences is to see the satisfaction on the faces of both youths and adults as they accomplish such a lofty goal by riding hundreds of miles. Does it make a difference? Yes! I remember the experience of one young man, who was living with my wife at the time we made the ride to Niagara Falls. After the ride, one morning he was getting ready for school and did not feel well. I asked him if he wanted to stay home from school. To my surprise, he said – “No”! He told me it was like riding to Niagara Falls. I was shocked. Explain what you mean I asked him. He reminded me it was like mid-week of the journey. You are tired and sore, but you aren’t going to get there unless you get back on the bike and keep pedaling.  Exactly.

We will begin training in May and use the winter months to work on the bikes and finalize details. Our youth are already getting excited. I encourage you to get involved too to help me see these kids accomplish this goal by helping me to raise $18,600 dollars. That is $600 each or $1.84 per mile per rider. Such an investment in helping a child to recover from setbacks will pay dividends in the years to come. I invite you to monitor our progress on this website, or www.LordsGymMinistries.org, our weekly blog, or social media outlets.

Please feel free to contact me at SBowers@LordsGymMinistries.org, if you have any questions, would like to donate equipment or resources, volunteer, or be part of this (or other) trips.

Stand firm.

Scott

P.S. To learn more about the work being done at Lord’s Gym Ministries, please visit our home page and check out our introductory video.