Double Ironman, Navy Seal, Hears from God

CBN.com John Rea of Virginia Beach, Virginia is a man driven to succeed. To fully understand the power behind this 51-year-old award-winning athlete you have to understand his background.

The Double Ironman competition is twice the distance of the Ironman. It’s a 4.8-mile swim, 224-mile bike ride, and 52.4 mile run.

"When I crossed the finish line, however, there was a tape and so I cut the tape and the race director grabbed me and he said, how's it feel to be third in the world? I thought I was third in my age group. And it threw me. I didn't know how to act because I was happy with third in my age group. I was actually first. I still hold the record in my age group today," says Rea.

In his early 20s Rea joined the Navy Seals. He skyrocketed to the top 1 percent of his class and qualified to serve on the prestigious Seal Team Six. Rea feels it takes a special soldier to be a part of this elite fighting force.

"You had to literally take that person and kill him to get him to stop, he was so target fixated on what he was doing, but balance, he had that 3-dimensional thinking, he knew exactly where to go, how to pace himself," says Rea’s instructor.

"You could ask an instructor who’s going to make it and who’s not? They'll tell you, "We don't know. All we know is that we push them to the limit and then beyond that and then we see what kind of guts they have inside and then we ask them to go get some more guts'," says Rea.

One day, on a dangerous mission when he was diving for cover from enemy fire, Rea heard something that would change the entire course of his life.

"I looked at this bush and I went for it. And I heard a voice behind me say "jump left, jump left." So I jumped left. I thought it was my partner behind me, but I was the only one there. I looked around, but the voice was so warm and it told me to go left. As soon as I looked right to the place where I was going to jump and the whole bushes were cut in half and it was like they were focusing on that one spot for me to go to and that’s where they were going to take me," says Rea.

His horrifying near death experience made Rea realize his own mortality.

"It made me realize that I could be here today and gone tomorrow. I knew that was the Lord speaking too. I knew it was only by Him that that I came out," says Rea.

"There is no such thing as bravery in a time like that. It's like 'I just want to survive. I'm going to do everything that I was trained to do, but I still, there’s a piece of me that’s screaming that says, 'I want to live'," says Rea.

In 1986, Rea was on assignment in the Middle East. He was at the top of his military career -- traveling all over the world. But even with all his success, Rea felt empty inside. He decided to take a tour of Jerusalem.

"I got lost and I ended up in the Temple of the Sepulcher, no one was there. I saw all of these Greek orthodox lamps, lights, candles, and it was dark and I made a turn to the right and I started feeling the hair stand up and then I continued on and it felt like real sadness and I kept walking. My curiosity took me. But the deeper I went in, the more sad I got," says Rea.

"So I started weeping and crying. And then I heard a voice behind me say, 'Now, do you believe who I am?' And when I turned back, it was the same voice and it was still nobody there, but I knew it was He. And so I made a promise. I said, 'From this day on I will follow You for the rest of my life.’ And I left the Seals. I left my career,' says Rea.

This was a powerful moment for Rea. He knew he had to tell his wife, Lorraine.

"Lorraine couldn't believe it. She said, 'You have Seals in your blood, it's impossible, you can't leave." I said, 'Watch. I found Jesus, watch.' I left. They thought I was crazy," says Rea.

Since his time with the Seals -- Rea's life has still been in high gear! He has worked for years as a highly successful corporate security consultant. And as if he doesn't have enough to do -- Rea's been an avid Ironman competitor since 1979.

“The fact is, when I crossed he gave me this, and as soon as I crossed in front of ABC, in front of CNN, I immediately said, ‘I gave all honor and glory to the Lord’. I let them know that Christ was the power, that He was my strength. I made it known.

"I’m not supposed to be in that league. I'm 50 years old. I'm not supposed to be there. By all biological science I’m not supposed to hang out with that group," says Rea.

Rea attributes his unbelievable success first to God and then to his wife, Lorraine.

"She's always been there since day one, from the Seal teams, in the beginning. She has been the one that’s been integral in my life to hold and keep everything stable back home," says Rea.

Lorraine is amazed at her husband's spiritual leadership.

"He's not scared or ashamed or anything like that to lift up the Lord in front of anyone and let them know who is in charge and who is doing everything in his life, and just depending on Him for everything," says Lorraine.

"He's a very good encouragement for me to stay close that way with the Lord also.

"He's that one person in my life, my husband, that he does that. He'll always bring me back and remind me and put me back where I need to know that God’s in charge of everything," says Lorraine.

Rea feels no matter how successful someone becomes if God is not a part of that success, his or her life is truly empty.

"One thing about our God is that no matter how much we mess up, you think it's unforgivable, you think there's no way, I've lost everything. But you can always go back to Him," says Rea.