You might assume that extreme activities—like traveling through space or climbing Mount Everest—provide constant excitement. Not exactly. A book by two researchers, Extreme: Why Some People Thrive at the Limits, shows that many thrill-seeking activities involve a lot of ordinary and even tedious moments. For instance, here's how the NASA astronaut Gene Cernan summed up his overall experience of space travel: "Funny thing happened on the way to the moon: not much."

Space travelers aren't the only ones killing time and battling boredom. During their free climb of the Dawn Wall in Yosemite National Park in California, Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson spend a large part of many days waiting for shade to hit the wall so they could begin to climb. One study of explorers scaling a Himalayan peak found that they spent a mere four percent of their time actually climbing. The book concluded that although a yearning for novelty and excitement may draw people into extreme activities, these pursuits inevitably require long periods of patience, discipline, and perseverance.

Possible Preaching Angles: Disciples; Discipleship; Sanctification; Patience; Waiting on God—In the same way, the Christian journey may start with a burst of excitement and adventure, but over the long haul following Jesus, growing in maturity, and serving him often requires many seasons of patience, discipline, and waiting on God.