Why they call it “The Race”

Some
may argue that life itself could be perceived as a race. We may not always be competing
to win or come in first, but we are all living this journey in pursuit of
something. From a Christian perspective or not, every individual experiences
the journey of life through celebrations, trials, victories, and failures. In
this life we are all running. We reach the point of exhaustion, we face
devastation, and we discover the beauty of redemption, community, and love.
Such is life on The Race.

“Therefore, since
we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off
everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run
with perseverance the race marked out for us…Consider him who endured such
opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” 

 Hebrews 12:1,3

Last
night our team enjoyed an evening of worship together. In the darkness of the
night, with the iPod blaring and a cool breeze coming through the window, I
made myself comfortable on the hard ground and just listened as my teammates
cried out to the Lord. I could feel my heartbeat against the floor, and I
thought of my grandmother. I thought about her final heartbeat and my brother
sitting next to her hospital bed, listening to Frank Sinatra and reading her to
sleep for the last time. I thought about how she had finished her race, and how
she had run it well. I thought about the Race I was running, and the race that
was before me.

I
don’t regret going home to be with my family during her passing, and because of
repeated confirmation, I know I won’t regret coming back to finish the Race.
With only one month left, several people have told me that they probably would
have just decided to stay home. I must admit, after a sleepless and emotionally
exhausting week, the thought crossed my mind. I wasn’t sure if I could get back
on that plane and do it all again, but I simply continued to remember the
dreams the Lord had given me since the beginning of the Race. I couldn’t forget
His plan for me – His plan for my return.

      After only a few
days in Malaysia, I have yet to understand His plan, and I realize that maybe I
never will. All I know is that every morning I get out of bed begging the Lord
to give me strength for the day. I’ve never experienced such exhaustion before.
All day I run on the energy and strength that the Lord provides, and when the
night comes, my fatigued body lies there, pleading for rest. I spend my night
tossing, turning, and praying for sleep, but it rarely comes.

There
have been many moments where I have thought of the Race as challenging, but I
have also perceived it as easy in comparison to my life at home. Sure it’s hard
to sleep on the hard ground, travel for endless days, suffer from exhaustion,
sunburn, and insect attacks, use bucket showers and squatty potties, and push
yourself to the limit emotionally and spiritually, but I am living what I love!
It’s so easy to see the Lord show up when you wake up expecting to see Him
every day. It’s easy to share the gospel when his children are hungry and
desperate. It’s easy to encourage others to have faith when they know they have
no other hope. It’s easy to call upon the Lord when you are living with 6
brothers and sisters who want to do the same. The Race is challenging, yet the
Race is simple.

“Do you not know that in a race
all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get
the prize…Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight
like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that
after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the
prize.”

1 Corinthians 9:24,26