Run!

Every one of us is running in our own lane on a track that has been created by the choices and decisions we have made in our lives. Each day we awaken we have a choice of how we will run our race. Some days we are energized and feel like running fast toward our hopes and goals, other days we may feel sluggish and move at a snails pace while still keeping our eyes on the prize but feeling like its a million miles away. Then there are the days when we feel like we are running backwards and not moving forward at all. Where the only scenery we can view is what lies behind us and we can no longer see the future prize because we have lost site of what lies ahead. Of course then there are the days where we believe we are running along fine and all of a sudden a hurdle is placed before us. Some are tall hurdles and require a lot of extra effort to jump and then others are smaller hurdles that just become annoyances but we still have to get over them before we can move forward. But as 1 Cor. 9:25 tells us “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.” I believe we are responsible for our own “training” by reading the manual (Bible), getting proper nourishment (Prayer) and paying attention to our coach (Jesus), who is there is keep us on track, in our own lane, and running our own race. We may not always have perfect running form, especially while jumping over those hurdles. We may trip on them or even knock some over, but as Heb. 12:1 tells us “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” We must lay aside “every weight” of insecurity, unfaithfulness, doubt, discouragement, anger, hatred, etc. that can hinder our race and push us off track. No matter how awkward, slow, and even lost we feel sometimes in our lane we must run with endurance, keeping our eyes ahead on the prize that Jesus Christ has waiting at our very own finish line.

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The analogy of the word RUN came to me during a time of personal worship I had a few years ago. It was one of those rare days when for reasons I cannot remember I found myself home all alone without any children around and Tim at work. When this occurs I love to play my Christian worship music really loud and sing, praise, and pray to God. On this particular day while I was praying, God gave me the word RUN. It was not an audible voice but just that knowing within your spirit of a word spoken to you. I continued my prayers and then went to my Bible and looked up all the scriptures that I could find with the word RUN in them. I wanted to understand what was being spoken to me.

After I had finished my time of worship, I decided to call Tim at work and tell him about my wonderful morning and time with God. I proceeded to tell him how I knew God had given me the word RUN. I was extremely excited to share this information with Tim. However, without even acknowledging anything I had just told him, Tim immediately went into a conversation about how he had gone and picked up our new license plate for our car that morning. As he spoke, I just sat silently on the phone feeling disappointed, unheard and a little sad that he was not more excited about my hearing from God. But being polite, I just continued to listen to what he was telling me. As he continued on and I continued to try and pay attention, he told me that he had to get a new license plate this time and could not renew our old one. I did not ask him why this was; I really was not interested to be honest. But, he went on to say to me “you will never guess what the new plate says”, trying to act interested I just replied “what” and he told me our new license plate spells out the word R.U.N.

Our God is a very good God!


Hebrews 12:1:
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

1Co 9:24-27:
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.