Another day in Rwanda…another sermon from the pulpit. I
wasn’t sure if this whole “life of a thousand sermons” in the land of a
thousand hills would stretch me or if it would just get old. Not only has it
stretched me, it’s made me take a look at myself and see several things. First,
I HEAR God and He’s constantly speaking. Second, that being stretched and
pushed to do more things out of my comfort zone is super good for me. And
third, that I LOVE to preach!
It’s hard to imagine that I used to cringe at the thought of
public speaking. When I was younger, I would fight puking my guts out or
fainting for at least a week before I was to get up and speak. Now, it’s the
most incredible opportunity…it never fails that God speaks to me before and
during the message…I LOVE to hear His heart and deliver it to whomever I’m
speaking to.
This week, I gave a sermon on a major theme of this month
for me – Running the Race.
Everywhere I’ve gone lately, I’ve noticed a recurring theme
about continuing in the race, sprinting athletes and athletic tracks. So I went
to God in search of more and among so many other verses pertaining to running,
I settled on Hebrews 12…the dreaded chapter on discipline.
“Therefore since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witness, 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. Let us fix our eyes
on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right
hand of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful
men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
Hebrews 12:1-3
As we throw off everything that hinders and holds us back
from all that God has for us (like our worries, our lack of jobs, our bad
relationships, our problems, etc.), we are able to run with more and more
perseverance towards the cross. It doesn’t say to stand or crawl or walk or
even jog, but it says to run! That
means full-force ahead, without anything holding you back.
Consider Jesus who looked at the cross and the pain of
holding the entire world’s worth of sin and saw joy. Fix your eyes on Him and
not on the problems of the world. He is where our joy is found, not in our
circumstances, people or things. He
endured…so we can endure. He was tormented, beaten and hung on a cross to die a
slow painful death…He endured. We run this race of life with all of its
heartbreak and …we are called to endure.
Several years ago, I was really into running. I posted a Facebook blog
about it at the time
“So, today before I even got out to
the Lake, my goal was to complete 5 miles. Being sore from Saturday, I knew
this would be a struggle, but I wanted to prove it to myself that I could
complete some huge goal and not back down…
Almost every run I go on, it ends up
being a test of my perseverance…kind of a test of my limits. I tend to talk
to God while I’m running. This time I started out asking Him to reveal to me
truth about the correlation between running a race/distance and getting through
life/circumstances/seasons.
The first 2 miles weren’t too
difficult. I just listened to my up-beat, non-stop Praise and Worship music and
praised along with it while I established my pace. When I felt tired, I just
turned back to praise and all the things that had been trying to pull me back
and stop me…the tiredness, shortness of breath, slight nausea, and soreness
in my muscles…just kinda disappeared.
So I kept going. When I reached 2.5
miles, my body ached to rest, but my mind was in it to stay, although it began
taking a toll on my thoughts. Just like when you’re on the verge of a bold-face
sin and all of those little thoughts go through your head…He’ll forgive me,
nobody will know, I’ll just do it right next time, you’ll feel better if you do
it…it all started swirling around my head. Just as I reached 3 miles, I
wanted to quit. I reached a goal that had been so huge weeks ago, and I figured
I could settle with it this time and try for 5 miles next week…
But then, God sent someone into the
picture to help! Just like in life when you need someone to help encourage and
pick you up, God sent her at the perfect time when He knew I couldn’t do it on
my own anymore. Courtney ran up to me and turned in my direction and began to
run with me.
So now, I had my praise music, a
huge reassurance that God was with me and wanted me to complete my goal and an
awesome friend to help me along the way. At 4.5 miles, I was counting down the
distance I needed to go to make my goal and it was getting harder and harder
with each stride. But, not only did God allow me to reach my goal, He allowed
me to see that I was so much stronger than I’d ever believed myself to be! I
reached my 5 miles turned the corner and kept running. I continued setting
little goals, hoping to reach each one before stopping…and with every goal I
reached, I gained more strength and, once again, more reassurance that God really
was pushing my perseverance.
We turned the next corner and
started down the second to last stretch before the final 6 mile mark. As we
ran, I noticed a dark stick shape on the path and suddenly realized it was a
snake as we were right up on it. It didn’t faze me very much, although it was
only a few feet away. Even a guy coming towards us screamed and ran off the
path into the grass!
Then it occurred to me…I didn’t
let fear stop me. I didn’t let it control me. I didn’t let it take my mind off
of the ultimate goal. I kept my eye on the prize and continued at a steady
pace, getting closer and closer with each step.
And although every muscle in my legs
screamed for relief, I knew that the only limit on my ability to make the goal
was the limit I set for myself in my mind.
So, with the final stretch of path,
I picked up my speed and put every ounce of energy and strength into the last
100 meters. I finished 6 miles! I fought fear, pain, fatigue, self-pity and
discouragement. And with each obstacle, there was something to fight back
with…praise, encouragement, a friend to run with, reassurance of God with me
and the strong desire to finish the goal I had set out to complete.“
So this race, this life, is full of struggles, both within
ourselves and from outside sources. We’ll come up against pain, weakness, and
exhaustion…but we’re called to push through the hard times and run hard after
the goal. We’ll come up against loneliness…but God says that He’ll provide what
or who we need to make it through…even if it is only Him. We’ll face fears head
on…but God doesn’t want us to let our fears stand in the way of the plans He’s
laid out before us.
As I was preaching, God gave me a
very clear vision of a person sitting in the middle of a pile of trash, or
their “mess.” This person decided to get up and walk away from the mess and
started off very slow. As they walked away, they continued walking through a
mess, but the trail of mess slowly decreased. With a decrease in mess, this
person picked up speed and the trail of mess continued to decrease as they ran.
Eventually, this person ended up in a full-on sprint. Trash was falling off of
them and the path that they were on was beginning to grow life. This person ran
into a harvest field and they had picked up so much speed that the crops were
flying up as they ran through the field.
In getting up from our “messes”
and running towards the prize of Jesus, we’re taken from our own mess to a
harvest field prepared for us. But,
it is up to us to get up and run the race. It’s a choice that we can only make
for ourselves. Life is a process of being willing to step out of our personal
messes and running to the prize.
Hebrews 12:7-8 says “Endure
hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined
by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline),
then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.”
Life is full of discipline. And
God disciplines those He loves. I’ve come to a point where I love discipline! I love when God smacks
me on the back of the head and says, “hey, listen, I have something I need to
tell you about something you’re doing…” Call me crazy, but I see it as the opportunity
to run out of my messes and run fast and harder after Jesus and everything He
has for me!
Are you willing to be open to
discipline? Do you love discipline from God? Are you really willing to take a
look at yourself, listen to God and move
out of the messes He shows you?
“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however,
it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been
trained by it.” Hebrews 11:11
As we’re willing to listen to discipline and move, God will
lead us to a harvest of righteousness. Discipline is all about training us for
more…more responsibility, more faith, more grace, more love for others and God,
more of God. It’s not easy, just
like my run at the beginning wasn’t easy. But God provides the way…He just
allows us to run through it, persevere and trust in Him to direct and support
us.
“Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. Make level paths
for your feet so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.” Hebrews
11:12-13
As you listen to discipline and walk or run out of it, He
will strengthen you, He will provide level paths through areas of chaos and He
will bring healing in every area you are willing to open up to Him.
With healing, freedom comes.
With freedom, we are called to keep running the race and
bring others along with us to encourage and show them freedom. The freedom we
walk in is not only for us. We walk in freedom so that others can walk in
freedom. We run the race so that we can run through the harvest fields and
change the very essence of it. We bring freedom to those who don’t have it!
