Today marks the 313th day that I have been on the World Race. With only 10 days left, I find myself reflecting on this race I’ve been running.
According to the Merriam Webster dictionary the word “race” has multiple definitions, some of which are: the act of running, set course or duration of time, a contest involving progress toward a goal, and the course of life.
All of those definitions define a race, but they don’t really explain what encompasses a race. Races are difficult, they involve hard work. During any race there are going to be struggles; those moments when you just want to give up. There are going to be obstacles that you need to overcome in order to finish. Races take perseverance and they call for extreme endurance. You need to run as hard and as fast as you can. And you can’t run a race without setting your sights on the end goal.
All these things have been true of the race that I have been running for the last 11 months. It has easily been the most difficult year of my life. There are days where I just want to give up and go home. Days where I’m sick of living in community or I am so over doing manual labor. There have been days where obstacles seem too big to overcome. And there have been days that I have stopped running all together.
But despite the difficulty of this race, the Lord has been faithful. He gave me strength and perseverance when I needed it. He gave me a community that would support me and call me higher. He gave me the endurance I needed to keep on running. He gave me a desire to seek Him in the hard times and celebrate Him in the milestones. And He made the end goal very clear to me: Jesus and an abundant life lived with Him!
But that is not the only race I’ve been running. Actually, the World Race has been more of a training. A practice for the real race that we are all called to run. The race that Hebrews 12:1-2 calls us to:
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.”
The Lord is incredibly clear through this scripture. We are called to run the race that is set before us. The race to live a life of faith. We are called to run with endurance toward the Lord. We are to be pursuing the Lord in every aspect of our lives. We are called to love the way Jesus loved and remain faithful until the end.
We are called to overcome the obstacles and trials that are a part of life and run even harder towards Him. We are called to seek the Lord and make disciples. Our race calls for steadfastness, stamina, endurance, faith, and commitment in order to live faithfully. We need to persevere through the distractions of life because we see that Christ is already at the finish line.
This year I have learned the beauty behind the race that we are called to live. I see how the Lord brought me on this trip so that He could prepare me and mold me. He set me up for success in my marathon by giving me this eleven-month sprint as a practice run.
My World Race may be ending, but as far as the real race is concerned, I’ve just started running! Are you running with me?
