Yesterday I decided to go for a run to help get my heart back in shape. It had been at least a year since I last went for a run. The goal distance was 3 miles.
Everything started out fine. My radioactive looking shoes really exploded in the early afternoon sun; 55 degrees and nice.
I got to the halfway mark and turned around, fighting cramps, and right about a quarter of the way back home I started to plan out where I would begin to walk because this was just getting too hard; it started to rain.
Then I noticed the sleet. It’s now a down pour with tiny chunks of ice. No stopping now. If I stop I’ll probably catch a cold walking back in this mess. Gotta push through. The “hills” are on the way back.
I started thanking God for the rain and sleet. He’s in control of everything and everything happens for a reason and it is okay if we don’t know what that reason is.
I began to listen to what He wanted to show me through this run.
Sometimes He creates circumstances in our lives that cause us to only focus on our feet and the next step, then the next. One step at a time. He knows that if we look too far ahead we will get discouraged and stop.
We run our race for the benefit of others. Growing in our relationship with Christ allows us to better serve others in our community; before, during, and after the race. I was no longer running for myself, but for all of D-squad; I had to finish.
Comparison is a tool the devil uses to destroy relationships and take our eyes off how good Jesus is in our lives. Seriously, He has given us incredible lives to live. It’s selfish and short sighted to compare my life with my friends who are engaged, married, having kids, or enjoying their career.
Sometimes on our run we look completely foolish to someone viewing us from the outside, not knowing the full story of our run. If you had seen me running in this weather, you would have thought I was crazy. If you just see me as an Electrical Engineer working in the kitchen of a Chick-fil-a you would think the same thing. God controls the race I run and the circumstances around it. AND He delights in me, so I can rest in that 🙂
As I was making my way towards a hill the rain/sleet lessoned a bit. He only gives us as much as we can take because He knows what’s ahead, and He knows our hearts. He is my strength.
He is my refuge. I finally made it home, and I think I could have gone farther, but it was good for me to stop. My hands were numb. It was a real challenge untying my shoes before I got in a warm shower. I couldn’t stand, so I just sat there with water falling on me. I could eventually use my hands after they warmed up and got myself up praising God 🙂
Basically, I feel like I had just ran a metaphorical world race. The storm came right when I was exhausted and needed His strength to continue. I had to just focus on the task at hand and not let my mind or sight wander to what I know is coming in the future. It is all about learning how to serve. The devil is a liar and doesn’t want me to continue to run the race. God is good regardless of the situation. At the end of a storm in our lives He gives us a place to rest and be restored in His Presence. His Presence is always with us weather (homophone/pun) we feel it or not. He hems us in before and behind us.
He is my rock, my refuge, and my strength. An ever-present help in times of trouble. And I delight to take refuge under the shelter of His wings.
“28Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. 29He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. 30Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. 31But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:28-31 (NLT)
Delight in the race He has given you. Thank Him for the life He has given you.
