Pain threshhold

I heard a podcast from Sam Chand on pain that really got me thinking. His point was that every leader is always dealing with pain (or pressure), whether they know it or not. How they are able to live and deal with that pain, will determine how far they go.

Last night, I was feeling a little overwhelmed with everything going on. From Nana's passing to Faster than the Pastor 5k, Church Picnic, a conference I'm sharing at, C3@7 our new Young adults service, and trying to get all my messages lined up till the end of the year. All of this within the next week and a half. Oh and I have to have something ready for this Sunday. All that to say, life tests our pain thresholds. What is my breaking point? Where is that threshold of pain where I say, "I can't handle anymore?" I'm getting better at reading my own gauges and knowing my thresholds and limits. My goal though, is to continue to increase my pain tolerance. If I have learned anything from running, it's that you have to continually push up to, and sometimes through the pain threshold in order to grow in that area. I have learned that it is no-fun, and that is why most people don't continue to grow. What are your pain thresholds?

pain threshold

I think it was CS Lewis who had a quoted saying how pain was life's megaphone, and I think he is right. Pain shapes us in so many ways. With my ironman triathlon aspirations, I add smaller amounts daily to prepare for the great amount on race day. With my role as a pastor and leader my pain threshold is the limitation for how far C3 will go. My pain threshold must continually go up, if this church is to grow. Decisions must be made that will be pivital to growth or decline. We all have a pain threshold but don't realize many times when we have hit it. Whether it is allowing something to continue that should be ended, or dealing with someone on a tough issues. When this is the case, the vision takes a back seat to the pain we fear. In order to increase our pain threshold, our vision must be bigger than our pain. It is so easy to lose the big picture in the tyranny of the urgent and we try to bypass the pain in order feel better now. In doing so, we void God's vision because of our low pain threshold. Where is your current pain threshold? Is it limiting you from doing the right thing?