I had a fellow racer tell me to make a “remember why” list; a list of things that remind me why I am here. Here is my list.
REMEMBER WHY
Why I am a follower of Jesus
- Because everything else is temporary. I could chase love from humans, partying, getting the best job or the most money, beauty, having the most likes on social media, etc., but none of it will satisfy me in the end. The only thing that fills my heart and brings me complete satisfaction is Jesus. Why chase anything else?
Why I am willing to literally lay down my life for His sake
- Because He laid His life down for my sake. Because I rather die for Him than live without Him.
Why I pray
- Because prayer is powerful. He hears every cry, every plea, every praise, every “thank you”
Why I trust Him
- Because He has shown me that He is worthy to be trusted. Because His ways and His plans are far greater than anything I could plan for myself.
Why I love others
- Because He loved first. Because He calls us to love, even when it is so much easier to be angry, gossip, and tear others down. He chose love so I will too.
Why I turn to Him first before anyone/anything
- Because the Lord knows best. He knows how to comfort me better than anyone or anything. He can give me truth that will satisfy. He can provide answers that no one else can.
Why I worship
- Because HE IS WORTHY TO BE PRAISED! He is worthy to be praised when I had the most amazing day and had the opportunity to share His love with new people. He is worthy to be praised when I want nothing to do with the race and just want to be home. He is worthy to be praised when I feel Him all around me and couldn’t be happier. He is worthy to be praised when I haven’t felt Him in weeks and am sobbing on the roof. Because even in the lowest points, He is teaching me, stretching me, and strengthening my faith in Him. He is constantly moving and working, even when I don’t see it. He is worthy to be praised always.
Why I read the Bible
- Because His word never runs dry. His word is truth and His word is life. I also read the Bible to learn about His character. To learn that the Lord is gentle. To learn that He is funny. To learn that He is a gentleman and won’t force you to do things if you don’t want to. To learn that He loves bigger and better than any human could.
Why I spend intentional time at His feet
- Because I need intentional time where I humble myself before Him. Where I literally bow before Him, showing Him that He can use me however He pleases, and showing myself that no matter how much I think I know best, no matter how much I think I know what is right for me and the people around me, I don’t. I spend time giving Him my pride and allowing Him to be in control.
Why I give Him my good days and my bad
- Because He is still good. In the days where life couldn’t seem to get any better, He is good. In the days where life couldn’t seem to get worse and it feels like everyone and everything is against me, He is still good. I give Him my good days and my bad because He was in them all, and He got me through them all.
Why I surround myself with people who love Him
- Because they constantly point me back to the Lord. I can’t tell you how many times I have had a terrible day and one of my best friends here will come pray for me, or speak truth that they see in me that I couldn’t see. I surround myself with people who are dedicated to the Lord because we lift each other up. We encourage each other. We show each other that not a single one of us has it all together or has it all figured out. We show each other grace and mercy like Jesus would. We choose to love each other when it’s so freaking hard to do. We point out the characteristics of the Lord that we see in each other, and point out ways we see each other acting/serving/listening like Jesus would. Surrounding myself in a community of strong believers is the best decision I have made on the race.
Why I look like a fool for Him
- Because who else am I trying to please? If I am living solely for Him, why should it matter what other people think? If He tells me to walk into a gas station and start dancing, guess what I am gong to do? Go into that gas station and dance my heart out. Because at the end of the day, everything of this earth is going to perish and I am going to be standing at the feet of Jesus. And at that point, will the opinions and thoughts of others matter to me, or will the opinions and thoughts of my Creator matter to me?
Why I shift my gaze upward when I don’t want to
- Because shifting my gaze upward is the only way I will see light. If my head is constantly down in the dumps, sulking on what I could be doing instead of being here, sulking on how I failed the Lord today, etc., nothing good is going to come out of that. I will be in a pit of self inflicted despair that I can easily avoid if I just look up. If I just look up and trust that the Lord has me, He loves me, and He forgives me.
Why I surrender everything to Him
- Because I can’t fully live for Him if there are things in my life that I am not giving Him free range to. I can’t say I want to dedicate my life to fully serve the Lord and then not give the Lord all of me. When I surrender everything, I am giving the Lord access to do what He wants with me, take me wherever He wants me to be, and do whatever He wants me to do. He can’t do that if I am still holding on to earthly things.
Why I choose to go into uncomfortable situations for Him
- Because with comfortability brings stillness, and with stillness brings stiffness, and with stiffness brings lack of movement. Lack of desire to MOVE FORWARD and press into the Kingdom. I don’t want to be stuck in the same routine every day, doing the same things and being afraid to step out into the uncomfortable. I don’t want to be 70 years old wondering where my life went. I want to take leaps of faith and do crazy uncomfortable things for Jesus because I know only good can come out of it. I want to look back and be able to say that I did everything the Lord asked of me, comfortable and uncomfortable.
