YOURS FAITHFULLY
APHRASE sometimes attributed to the UK Special Forces is: ‘Just a little further’.
The idea behind this phrase comes from the selection process that weeds out unsuitable candidates for the exclusive membership of this elite branch of our military. During the gruelling process, candidates are tested to their limits, and many are ‘washed out’ or, in military parlance: ‘Returned to Unit’. Part of this gruelling process involves challenging physical tasks which can involve candidates thinking they have completed a set distance to run or march only to find the directing staff cajole them to go ‘a little further’ before finally completing their task. It is a severe test of mental resolve as well as physical stamina.
The Prime Minister reluctantly had to announce last Monday an extension of the current restrictions due to an increasing rate of transmission of the Delta variant of the Covid -19 virus.
To many people hanging on to the desired Freedom Day on June 21, declaring the end of such restrictions this announcement must have seemed a heavy blow. Instead, it seems as if we have been told: ‘Just a little further’.
I received an email from a friend in which she described a catalogue of unfortunate events that has befallen her in the last two years, ending with a road accident involving her car and a motorcycle, which she felt put ‘the tin lid’ on everything unfortunate that has happened to her. She could well be forgiven for wondering at this point how much more can she take?
Yet, after each event, another calamity occurred. It was a case of ‘just a little further’, testing her mental and emotional resolve.
The Apostle Paul was no stranger to the concept of ‘just a little further’. As a missionary spreading the Gospel of Jesus across the Roman world, he encountered many challenges, including those involving personal suffering. In his letters, he wrote to fellow Christians who were enduring similar challenges to encourage them in their witness.
In one letter he wrote: “But we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” (Romans 5: 3 – 5)
The phrase: ‘boast in our sufferings’ means not so much making a song and dance about adverse challenging experiences but to regard them in a more positive light, knowing that the fruits of them results in the growth of the qualities of endurance, character, and hope. Those who have been rigorously trained in the military will know this and will value the tough experiences they endured because it assisted them in facing further challenges later in their careers.
Athletes who train rigorously for competitions know the value of pushing themselves further towards the limits of their abilities so that during competitions they live in the hope of achieving more through their struggles to succeed. The phrase: ‘just a little further’ might have been made for them too.
Life will always present challenges to us. It is part and parcel of living a full life. What matters is the attitude with which we address them. The phrase: ‘just a little further’ encourages us to push on just a little more, to extract the maximum out of the opportunities and challenges presented and grow further as human beings thereby.
So, even with the restrictions hanging on just little longer, much to the dismay of many, we are being encouraged to go ‘just a little further’ to the ultimate destination of a time of little or no restrictions at all. It tests our resolve just that bit more. Because of what is at stake nationally, it will ultimately be worth it. God bless you all as we journey together ‘just a little further’.