Hebrews 12:1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off the 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. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.
I’ve been feeling like I was supposed to write this blog for the past week and a half. It’s going to be one of those “vulnerable hard to write” blogs.
Along with my squad mates, I’ve been feeling tons of different emotions as training camp approaches and my launch date gets eerily close. From being overly excited to being pulling-my-hair-out-stressed about packing, to being confused at what clothes to take to training camp, to being scared about rejection, to wondering what team I will be on, to feeling sadness about leaving my friends and family, to wondering if I am good enough…wondering if my parents will be okay while I’m gone…just a billion things running through my mind.
These past few days have been especially trying. On Sunday I said goodbye to my little brother because he left for basic. I won’t see him until after I get back from the race. It was my first official “see ya later.” It was hard.
The World Race is becoming so much more real to me as it gets closer and sometimes I catch myself thinking, “What in the world did I sign up for? What did God really call me on?” It’s surreal and crazy to think about. The World Race, in many ways, is way out of my comfort zone. I’m not a camper, I haven’t put up a tent by myself, and just a lot of other things. I’m fit, but not the most fit person in the world. I’m not the most attractive person. I’m not the most organized person. I sometimes say things at the wrong time. I have so many weaknesses, it’s ridiculous.
But…through realizing how weak I am…..I realize how strong God is.
2 Corinthians 12:9
Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.
I don’t think I truly understood this scripture until honestly just this past month. It was before I went to speak at my pap’s church that this scripture hit me. That whole weekend before I spoke, my nerves were shot, I kept getting annoyed easily and I had a sinus infection. It was only the grace of God that helped me through the weekend and rested on me as I spoke, and it’s only the grace of God that has carried me through my whole life. I can’t brag about anything significant I’ve done, because it’s only God that has made me able. I am weak with out Him and totally powerless. But this year I’ve seen God use my weaknesses…I’ve felt Him transform my heart….I’ve seen Him do things in my life when I just admitted I needed Him. When I was going through total Hell in my mind, different people said they felt peace around me. It was not ME they felt the peace from, it was Jesus. He was the peace. His power was shining through my weakness.
I have to remember that especially with the World Race coming up. I know there will be times I feel completely helpless and feel like giving up. I know things will feel too hard to deal with sometimes. But if Jesus is my anchor…His strength will keep me running the race.
I have a dear friend who just did a 24 hour race and ran 104 miles….yes…you read that right…24 hour race….104 miles. God gave her the gift of physical endurance…that’s a fact!!! There were probably times I’m sure she felt like giving up. That she felt weary. But she ran the race with endurance and got 1st Place Female! That is AMAZING. God was her strength. And just like this race, when we accepted Jesus in our lives, we committed to run a race. It’s life long, it’s not a cake walk, and requires total dependence on Jesus. There will be times that we will feel like it’s a breeze and refreshing and other times we will feel weak and weary. But we have to decide this race is worth running, and keep the faith…knowing that it’s so worth it. Jesus is our hope, Heaven is our destination. We have a purpose to bring people to this truth.
Please pray for my squad and me as we get ready to go to training camp and ready to launch. Please pray for endurance, an increase in faith, hope, love and courage. This will probably be the last blog I write until after training camp and I will definitely be writing a blog about that!
Thank you all for the prayers, encouragement and financial support.
With love,
Meraia
1 Corinthians 9:23-27
I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings. Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.
