Enduring Discomfort for Growth

Rachel Entrekin’s performance at the Cocodona 250 is hard to ignore. She recently ran 250 miles in just 56 hours, pushing through heat, mountains, exhaustion, pain, and doubt. It was the kind of effort that makes you stop and wonder about the vast capabilities of humans.

Most of us will never attempt a race like that. We may never run through the night or push our bodies to such extremes. But when we hear a story like hers, something in us stirs. We recognize the deeper truth beneath the race itself: growth often comes through discomfort.

That truth matters in sports. It also matters in faith.

We Spend Much of Life Avoiding Discomfort

It is easy to build a life around comfort. We avoid hard conversations. We back away from risk. We choose what feels familiar over what might stretch us. We want peace, but often we define peace as ease.

Yet the Christian life has never been a call to ease. Jesus said in Luke 14:27, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” The path of faith includes surrender, patience, obedience, and trust. None of those come naturally when life is always comfortable.

Growth Happens When We Stay

Discomfort is not always a sign that something has gone wrong. Sometimes it is a sign that God is doing deep work in us. If we avoid every form of discomfort, we may also avoid the very things that help us grow. 

We may avoid confession because it feels exposing. We may avoid forgiveness because it feels unfair. We may avoid obedience because it feels costly. We may avoid trusting God because we cannot control the outcome. We may avoid humility because it seems like losing face. 

But faith grows when we stay present with God in the hard places. Think of these examples from the Bible that apply to our own lives. Wilderness is a time of preparation for the next phase of life. Fire is strengthening. We must learn to appreciate the fire. 

James writes, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance” (James 1:2–3). That is not a call to pretend pain is pleasant. It is a call to see that God can use hardship to form something strong and beautiful in us.

The Witness of Endurance

Rachel’s race was not just a display of physical strength. It was a picture of perseverance. She kept going through pain, fatigue, and self-doubt. At one point, she had to answer her own doubt with a simple question: “Why not you?” Why not you?

Never quit! . . . Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed–that exhilarating finish in and with God–he could put up with anything along the way . . . When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls! (Hebrews 12: 1-3.)

Trust the truth. God has given us everything we need. (2 Peter 1:2-4.) Our relationship with Jesus empowers us beyond our own ability to keep His Word.

The Christian Life Is an Endurance Race

Following Christ is not a sprint. Christianity 101, right? It is a long road of steady trust, pressing on, finishing the course, and not losing heart (1 Corinthians 4:16-18). 

Some days are full of joy, clarity, and embracing moments of everyday awe. While others feel like mile 50 in the dark when you have 200 more to go. That’s when doubt gets loud, and strength runs low. In those moments, faith is about choosing not to quit. 

When God leads us through places that stretch us, He is not wasting our pain. He is forming endurance, humility, dependence, and hope. He’s developing a narrative we can return to long after we make it through the tough spot. Let’s keep going! Awe Together.