If you read my last blog, you already know that Month 9 was off to a rocky start. I was feeling pretty frustrated and discouraged and just ready for this whole thing to end.
If I learned anything from that post, it was if you post a depressing blog on the Internet and basically close it by begging for people to contact you, you will indeed find an inbox full of encouraging emails, comments, Facebook messages, etc. THANK YOU all so much. I cried my little eyes out and felt very loved. I have read your messages over and over again, and feel so encouraged by your kind words and scripture you shared with me.
God is so faithful, and prayer is so powerful, and I’m happy to report that I am doing much better! I think I’m finally over my chest infection so physically I’m feeling stronger and this has allowed me to start running again, which has helped lift my spirits.
During one of my runs this week, I was busy staring at my feet to avoid potholes and rocks and the awkward stares of people on the road, when I suddenly remembered something I had written in my journal seven months earlier.
Journal Entry: Monday, February 13, Day 33
Ran at 6:45 a.m. with a few of my squadmates. It’s been over a month since my last run and today reminded me why I NEED to run. It felt good, but hurt so bad, to hear my heart pounding out of my chest, my desperate gasps for air and to feel my legs burning with every rocky step. I’ve missed running. I miss the camaraderie of running partners, the miles to let my mind wander, the dirt roads and rocky paths, the soreness and most of all, the feeling of accomplishment it brings. Running reminds me of who I am and where I’ve been and where God wants me to go.
I was struggling up a hill and I started to think to myself, “Just finish the run, that’s all you have to do.” For some reason my mind wandered to mile 23 of the Boston Marathon. Miles 20-23 I’d been struggling big time, but suddenly I started to feel better, stronger. My mindset went from “Just finish and you never have to run again,” to fast calculations of “if I just push harder I may still be able to run under 3:40.” Even crazy thoughts of “Well next marathon I’ll do A,B and C and will be able to run sub 3:30.”
Stay with me here. It’s only the start of the second month on the World Race, but I already sense that at some point on the Race, hopelessness will set in. I’ll be tired and burned out and just focused on finishing the Race. I may even tell myself that If I can just make it the end of November, I never have to do mission work again, never have to leave the comforts of my easy American life.
But I hope when that happens I’ll remember this feeling. The same feeling I felt in Boston when I found new hope and strength somewhere deep within myself.
On the World Race, much like a marathon, sometimes you have to dig deep to remember why you’re doing it. You can’t lose faith in yourself. All you can do is focus on the next step, keep a positive attitude, and find your strength in the Lord.
How true were those words! The World Race IS like a marathon. I taught a Bible lesson in Kenya about how the Christian life is like a marathon, and if we persevere through the inevitable struggles of life, we will finish the race faithfully. I think it’s time I start following my own advice. So here it is again, and hopefully it will encourage you too.
(Adapted from study notes in my Bible: How to Find God, Living Water for Those Who Thirst, New Testament, New Living Translation).
There will be times in your Christian walk when you will feel emotionally down. You may even think that God has forgotten about you. But God will not allow you to be hit with more than you can handle spiritually. In fact it is during times of trouble that you will actually be strengthened, not weakened.
As you read your Bible, you’ll come across words like endurance and perseverance. These words are often used when the Bible compares the Christian life to a race. The race is a distance run, not a sprint, so we must pace ourselves to persevere, and most of all to finish the race.
James 1:2-4
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
Life’s trials WILL make you stronger. One of the keys to effectively growing in the Christian life is enduring. The word used for “endurance” in verse 3 is the Greek word hupomone, which means “a patient enduring.” During the storms of life, this cheerful, enduring patience develops and helps our spiritual roots grow deeper.
Hebrews 12:1-2
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 fixed on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding it’s shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.
Just as a successful runner must keep his eyes on the prize, we, too, must remember what this race is all about. We must bear in mind for whom and to whom we are running: Jesus Christ.
Corrie ten Boom, a Dutch Christian who survived the horrors of Hitler’s concentration camps often said, “Look within and be depressed. Look without and be distressed. Look at Jesus and be at rest.”
God will see us through to the end. He has given us his word:
Philippians 1:6
And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
Jesus modeled the ultimate in endurance so that we would be encouraged to keep our faith strong in the race of life. God honors those who persevere. A wholehearted commitment to God will enable you to “finish well” with your faith intact.
2 Timothy 4:7-8
As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me-the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing.
