June 18, 2024

“We don’t rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training.” This well-known quote has rung true in many of my experiences. Whether in the positive, helping me overcome an otherwise overwhelming hardship, or in that moment of challenge, when it was revealed to me just how ill-prepared I really was.

At ALERT we train the men to always be ready, to give their best, and to use their strength and abilities to serve others in need. But to be honest, the challenge we have the greatest desire to see them succeed in—and dare I say, train the most regularly for—is to stand firm in the faith, wary of the devil’s attempts to dislodge us from the path of faithfulness to Jesus Christ.

And so we train and encourage them with the words they each memorize from 1 Peter 5:8-9, that they might stand prepared as they face the hardest challenges of life.

“Be of sober spirit, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished among your brethren who are in the world.” (LSB)