We cannot do it on our own. Despite what our world demands of us, we were not meant to be all things to all people. We need each other. We need to share the load. When we take it all on alone we place unreasonable expectations on ourselves that are not from God. Rather than compete, we need to remember that God created us to be one body, working and moving in unity and strength–His people. We are stronger when we are together.

When we embrace what seems counterintuitive to the natural mind—that sometimes less is more—our ultimate progress is greater. It’s a bit of a dance, really. Like dancing at the edge of a stall; it’s good and natural to push in order to grow, but we only receive the blessings of strength, endurance, and confidence if we listen to and respect the wisdom of God’s law: As humans we can only go so far by will, desire, and effort before our own methods become useless and we must surrender to God’s way—we must back off and regroup while He does the work and our minds and bodies adjust to a new stage of fitness.