Running for Manila
Sunday morning myself and 33 other Americans ran either
the 5K, 10K, 21K “Run for Home” in Ayalaland to benefit Philippines Habitat for
Humanity.
I signed up last minute because “everyone else was doing it” and because it would be an awesome
experience. So I committed to train for 2 weeks, get off my butt and run, but
at this task I failed as I only ran once.
AND the race soon snuck up on us.
3.1 miles, 5K, “tough
but manageable,” I told myself on the way there, knowing I’d have to stop a
few times and walk because of my lack of training.
6,000 5K runners… an awesome experience: IPod jamming,
passing people, exploring new streets, and seeing the long road ahead. I soon
feel into a trance, despite the loud rap playing on my iPhone headphones and my
constant desire to walk.
In this, I began to notice little things around me.
I noticed how I ran on the left
side of the road, consistently running against the large yellow arrows on the
road. Instead I followed the race route arrows and hugged corners.
This is similar to how we run God’s race; He calls us to
follow HIS path, his arrows, despite what the rest of the world may be doing. I
RAN HARDER.
I also noticed the homeless.
I thought of the boys at Children’s Garden and of the
intense poverty side-by-side this 5 Star district of Manila. God calls us to
run, to run for the lost, the poor, the widowed, the orphans, and for freedom. AND
I RAN HARDER.
In the Philippines, it is normal to have all eyes on us,
like we are famous. In most instances it is because we are white, or possibly
because I have really “small” hair.
God tells us that all eyes will be on us because we are
Christians. So we must run the race with endurance. People are watching.
In Paul’s words:
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by a great crowd of
witnesses, let us throw off us anything that hinders and the sin that so easily
entangles, and let us run with
perseverance the race marked out for us.”
God,
grant me the perseverance and guide my race, my race for your kingdom to come
around the world. May each racer walk or run the path that you’ve laid out. Amen.
