I'm a Runner

I like to call myself a new runner… even though I have been running for a year and a half. But pace wise I am still a baby. I love to run. I love everything about it. The rush you get as you reach a milestone, the air on your face, the release of endorphins, and even the pain of pushing yourself beyond limits. My only problem is my body doesn’t love running quite as much. Every time I get to a certain level something on me breaks. Bad feet and a bad back keep me from keeping a good rhythm. Often times my schedule can also keep me from keeping the routine going. Work, weather, life, keeps me from making it a regular part of my week.

Its funny though, when you love something so much, you are willing to make sacrifices. I will run on a bad foot now. I will run knowing an hour after my run I will be in serious back pain. I am willing to fork over the little money I have in order to lessen the chances of being hurt. I will buy the expensive inserts. I will pay more to get the right shoes. I have more ice packs then any one person should have. I will contemplate missing appointments so I can work in a run. When someone asks me to hang out I will consider if I am willing to sacrifice the run. That’s how much I love it.

Its also funny that though I love the run that much, when I haven’t run in a while, I will desire it, crave it, need it but avoid the dickens out of it. Knowing that I will have to basically start at 0, that it will hurt, and it will be more effort then release makes it hard for me to get out there. I want to start where I left off before but the human body and its muscular system don’t work that way. Your muscle memory is fairly short term so if you don’t keep them warmed up they forget the effort they put in and go back to their stationary ways.

My growth in the Lord is much like my running. I love the thrill that learning about Jesus brings me. I love learning how much he loves me and I love learning about his nature. But things in us break all the time. We have things that cause us to get distracted, that slow us down. Fear, selfishness… SIN. We could be running along and something either suddenly or over time keeps us from really moving forward with the Lord.

When we stop running towards the Lord, do we do as much to catch back up? Do we put forth the effort that we would for a good run? Sometimes, maybe, but not always. When my spiritual muscles get tired or slow down, I find it exhausting trying to regain the ground that I am losing. Instead I make excuses and stay in the still cycle I am in.

But just like running, when we take the first step, when we begin running again, it doesn’t take long for our muscles to wake back up, the high to surge and the heart to race. We simply must take the first step to get the shoes on, and walk out the door. Once we begin the run, we’ll forget what the apprehension was all about.

Psalm 63:1-4
O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18
16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:7-9
7But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

Hebrews 12:2-3
2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.