"Be Training Yourself"

A Sympathetic Trainer

One of the jobs of an ancient trainer was "to judge the type and number of exercises that were needed for the individual athlete and the particular sport," notes one scholar. As God trains us, he takes into account our individual circumstances, abilities, makeup, and limitations. Quite often during our training by Jehovah, we implore him, as did Job:  "Remember, please, that  out of clay you have made me." (Job 10:9) How does our sympathetic  trainer respond? David wrote of Jehovah:  "He himself well knows the formation of us, remembering that we are dust." -Psalm 103:14. 

You may have a serious healthy problem that limits what you can do in the ministry, or you may be struggling with low self-respect. Perhaps you are striving to bread a bad habit, or you may feel that you are unable  to face up to peer pressure in the neighborhood, at the workplace, or at school. Whatever your circumstances may be, never forget that Jehovah understands your problem  better than anyone else-including you! As a concerned trainer, he is always there to help you if you draw close to him. -James 4:8. 

The ancient trainers "could distinguish exhaustion or weakness that derived not from the exercises but from other, psychological causes, bad humour, depression and so on. . . .The jurisdiction  of the [trainers] was so wide that they even followed the private lives of the athletes and intervened where they thought it necessary." 

Do you sometimes feel exhausted or weak because o the unrelenting pressures and temptations of this world? As your trainer, Jehovah is keenly interested in you.  (1 Peter 5:7) He is quick to discern in you any sign of spiritual weaknesses or fatigue. Although Jehovah respects our free will and personal choice, out of concern for our eternal welfare, he provides ample help and correction when needed.  (Isaiah 30:21) How? Through the Bible and Bible-based publications, the spiritual elders in the congregation, and our loving brotherhood!

Next time: "Be Training Yourself"-"Self-Control in All Things"

From the Watchtower magazine, 2002