During my training runs this week one question has been continually running through my head. It popped into my mind again as I began my attempt at my first 10K in Atlanta yesterday morning.
“Can you go the distance?”
The first time the Lord asked me this question was during one of my training runs last week. I thought, “Well, I’ve run 4.5 miles before, and I know that I am battling an injury, but I’m pretty sure I can make it.” He repeated the question, “But can you go the distance?”
When I look at the direction that the Lord is leading my life, I often find myself getting pretty freaked out. Having spent time in India I know what I can expect to experience over the next two years. I know that I am facing hot weather, constant noise, lack of personal space, always drinking and brushing my teeth from a water bottle, and living without many of the little conveniences that I so often take for granted when I am at home. It seems the longer I am home the harder it is to think about going back on the field. I’ve let myself get comfortable. I’ve gotten used to the conveniences and the ease of life. There is another version of the “can I go the distance” question that I keep asking myself when I think about my commitment to return to India…it is more like “can I survive a year and a half of life there?” but essentially I am asking myself the same thing. Can I make it? Can I go the distance that the Lord is asking me to go?
Jesus went the distance. He ran the race that was set before Him with endurance, knowing that the road ahead of Him was paved with heartache, pain, shame and an excruciating death. He didn’t allow Himself to get caught up in the petty things of this world, but He kept His eyes on the prize as He ran His race – the prize that we also look to as children of God and co-heirs of the Kingdom: being seated in heaven with our Father.
Can I go the distance? The answer is so simple that it sounds cliche, but the truth is this: on my own strength, I can’t. I will fail miserably. I will get injured and have to sit on the sidelines of the race called life. But when I depend on His strength, I can go the distance. I can push through every “injury;” physical, spiritual and emotional. I can endure the sweat and the hard work, the trips and stumbles along the way, because He is with me, giving me the strength I need to finish the race.
