Since I was in elementary school, I have always hated running. I remember so vividly our PE teacher, Mrs. Meyer saying “Today we will be running outside and you have to get your 5 Popsicle sticks.” We would have to run around a very large grass area right outside our school and each time we went around we would pick up a Popsicle stick to show how many laps we had completed. I dreaded these days because I was a horrible runner. In junior high, it was even worse. Now we had a large park to run around 5 times, although we didn’t have to pick up the Popsicle sticks anymore. Those 5 laps seemed so daunting, so miserable, and I had no way out of it.
Some might say I have a fear of running and would be shocked to know that I am running in the 5K Rodeo Run this Saturday. What started out as just wanting to work out more somehow became a passion and resolution for me to run a 5K this year. So I’ve been on the hunt, in pursuit of something that I have never done, but in the midst of it all I found out it’s not me that is really running. It’s not me that is hitting the pavement. It’s not me running the distance to say I finished a 5K.
This past week on my way to the gym to run, I was given a challenge to memorize 1 Cor 9:24-27 from a friend. I knew right away that God had placed this on my heart to do and I agreed to the challenge not even knowing what the verse said. That morning I ran but I had no purpose and no drive for what I was running for. All I wanted to do was just be able to finish it.
Immediately when I got home I opened my Bible to 1 Cor 9:24-27 and stopped dead in my tracks…..
“Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win. All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.”
I felt God just pick me up and start to shake me, saying “Hello, run after me! You can do anything with me! Trust me! Grow with me!” I was instantly taken aback and knew it had nothing to do with running the distance or for a time. It’s all about running after Him and building endurance. I need to be constantly pursuing Him, communicating with Him, and growing in Him. I need to be more disciplined in my everyday life to continue in my growth and in this journey set out before me.
Since then, every day I run is a special time just between me and God. He gives me strength, endurance and courage and I continually run to seek Him in everything I do. I run with a new purpose for His eternal prize before someone or something can take it away from me.
