Run Your Own Race – Part 2

I’ve always admired those that run in these big city marathons and have marveled at all of the discipline and training they must have had to do to be able to just finish the race. It really is amazing. Think about it. Without building up your endurance, you could overwork yourself…risking injury or even just having to quit before you ever really get started. For me personally, the endurance it takes to be able to even finish a 5k is nothing short of a miracle. I know there was one recently that I wasn’t quite able to finish because I got overheated and had to quit early. I was so disappointed in myself.

Every great athlete, or even those that just try really hard, has to work on endurance. Webster’s dictionary defines endurance as ‘the ability to withstand hardship or adversity: the ability to sustain a prolonged stressful event or activity.’ Building up endurance comes from training. When you’re talking about marathons, that’s definitely a prolonged, stressful event that requires many hours of training to build up to. Isn’t life the ultimate ‘prolonged, stressful event’?

Christians also have to build up endurance in running our own race in our walk with Christ. The path of this race is a narrow one indeed and quite difficult, especially when trying to navigate through our current world. It requires us to be steadfast and patient in our commitment to God and to build our faith in Him. We have to persevere through all kinds of trials and difficulties and sometimes, even suffering. But just as the runner has to sweat and train to condition their bodies, the Christian has to suffer through trials to condition our faith and our patience.

Romans 5:3-5 ‘And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope.’

Even after answering God’s direction in moving to Texas, which took a fair bit of faith on our part, the difficulties certainly didn’t end. If anything, some days it seemed like they multiplied. We had family issues, job loss, taking care of my Mom with dementia, then dealing with her passing. There were financial issues and just the stress of dealing with day to day life. However, with all of that difficulty and stress, we also have hope. Hope in Him. Hope that one day we will be free from all of that. No more pain, stress, or difficulty. And we have Him to lean on in the meantime. When life gets too hard, I hit my knees. I’m so grateful I have a God that wants a close relationship with me… with us. He’s constantly there to help us through all of life’s trials. Sometimes He calms the storm and other times He guides us through it. But thankfully, He never leaves us to deal with it alone. For those times when the storm is so heavy it seems like you can’t even see to take the next step, keep focusing on Him and persevering in your faith.

Building up our endurance gives us that strength to persevere. And in no race is that more important than on your pathway to God. The two pretty much go hand in hand. As Christians, and more than ever these days, we have many things to endure. But we have the greatest trainer there ever was and He gave us the ultimate training manual as a guide. We have a direct line to Him. Lean on Him when you’re navigating the hard things in life. Once you’re successfully on the other side of it, I guarantee you’ll be able to look back and see His hand in it all, even if it didn’t work out the way you thought it should. Run your race towards God’s direction and you’ll cross the ultimate finish line. And that, my friends, is way better than any 5k medal.

James 1:12 – ‘Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him.’