(A quick break from training camp stories)
As most of you know, I LOVE TO RUN!!! Running has been a major part of my life for nearly a decade. I’ve gone through countless pairs of shoes, run thousands of miles (yes, thousands… rough estimate would be around 15,000 miles), had dozens of teammates, and succeeded and failed so many times and in so many ways. It has been quite a journey. That being said, I have always known that life and running are closely related, especially my faith and my running; they are just so similar, so much so that there are multiple New Testament passages that refer to faith and running a race (see 1 Cor. 9:24-27, Heb. 12:1, Phil. 3:13-14, 2 Tim. 4:7, 1 Tim. 4:7-8, 2 Tim. 2:5, Gal. 5:7).
However, today I was reminded of more than that. I was out running a tempo run with some high school guys and God just flooded my mind with so many reasons why I run and lessons that I have learned from running that apply to life, here are some that I remember…
1. Live in the moment. We talked about this at WR Training Camp and just being present wherever you are at, not focusing on the past or the future. As a runner you have to do this and it took me a while to learn. I never ran well in the middle of races because I didn’t run in the moment, but looked ahead to having energy for the finish (even though I always had energy no matter how hard I pushed the middle of the race).
2. Perseverance. Pretty self-explanatory
3. Discipleship. You have a team and even if you don’t spiritually disciple one another, you disciple each other as runners, the older ones passing on wisdom and guidance to the younger runners. We must do the same in the church.
4. Encouragement. This is necessary for any run. Runs can be extremely easy at times, but there are always days where you or a teammate needs encouragement, especially on “workout” days and you feel like digging a hole and dying.
5. Running as a team. This was also emphasized at Training Camp. We had various team activities and there were times it was extremely hard and we did not do a great job as a team, but we grew so much closer through some of our failures and I know I learned a lot through these times.
6. Running is guaranteed time alone with God or potential evangelism time. I either run with myself which is an awesome opportunity for alone time and prayer time with God or I run with others in which case I can shine Christ’s light as I run with them by simply encouraging (and if led, sharing a Word from God).
7. Running taught me work ethic.
8. Running brings me joy from God and it brings God joy when I run for Him
9. The Spirit speaks when I run (though I didn’t realize it for a really long time)
10. Running just makes me a better person. It humbles me when I can’t do it; it brings me immense pleasure when I do what I never thought was possible; it forces me to work with people I may not agree with; it allows me to compete; it makes me driven; it brings me into community with others; I cannot fully describe just how God has used running in my life and I am excited to share my joy of running with my WR teammates this year, that they might see God the way I do when I run.
