Running the Race

I have agreed to do a half marathon for charity in September. It will be an experience for sure, I will explain more about it in a future post, but what a half marathon forces you to do is RUN!

So tonight I went for a jog around my local park. I thought I had done two couple of mile runs recently but according to Mum my idea of a mile is slightly out so I hadn't really done as much as I'd thought. I had also not long had dinner, and my shoes are not really running shoes so my feet really ache.

So here I am running and struggling. I want to give up, the excuses are on a plate. I could say I want to protect my feet, I could point to a back pain I've had recently. I could say I'll try again once my stomach isn't full of beans on toast and WeightWatchers chocolate.

I lifted my eyes up to the sky and asked God for the strength and help I needed to achieve my target for the night. 12 laps of the local park which equals about two miles. It used to be nothing to me but Christmas and the bad weather has taken its toll on my fitness. If you had told me I would do 12 laps at that point I would have laughed. When I started running again after the quick prayer session I passed the gate and was tempted to just run straight on out of there. But I didn't, completed my aim and felt so enthused.

Here is the point, running is a wonderful analogy for life as a Christian. There are many verses that use running as the analogy in the Bible and here are a few I've picked out:-

1 Corinthians 9:24
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. (ETERNITY!!)

Hebrews 12:1
[ God Disciplines His Sons ] Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
 (GOD HAS A PLAN - JEREMIAH 29:11)

In our lives we face lots of obstacles to our faith. The enemy feeds us plenty of excuses. The enemy wants us to fail, he wants us to give up so God's Will is not done in our lives. I want to urge you to keep going, God WILL give you the strength. He never gives you anything you can't handle, why would he? He loves you.

God has great things in store for you and you can do them (Luke 18:27) and one day we will stand before God knowing the same as Paul did:-

 Timothy 4:7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.