I have found that running is a great analogy for life. As some of you may or may not know, I started to run this last year, something I swore I would never do. I also swore I could never run because of the condition of my knees. I was a baseball catcher that later turned to body building. Constant squatting and then pushing large amounts of weights with my legs was a recipe for knee damage, and mine hurt...a lot of the time.
Through the process of training for a half marathon (which is this weekend) I have become a runner, and that is a miracle in itself, but I will save that story for another time (I know, whew…). What I have noticed through this process is when you break it down, running is really just like life. First it’s the pace – we all want to run faster. We all want life to speed up so we can get to where we think we want (need) to be, right? But if you run like that, you only find out you can’t run very far at all, and you run out of gas.
Another part of running that is analogous with life is planning the route you will run. I have run less, more often times than I wanted to, because I miscalculated a route. Ever happen in life? Something I realized: we are all running in life, the question is only whether or not you realize it. Let me explain what I mean.
In life it would seem that we are either running away from something, or running towards something. We run away from things in our past we no longer want to be associated with, or we run towards a future where we have placed our belief that there is a destination ahead that will solve or change something.
Running away has no destination, and can leave us frustrated, confused, and eventually lost. Running towards “better” is a route without a destination, and will often leave us wanting as soon as we get to where we thought we wanted to be, right?
So what are we supposed to do? First, stop running from your past, just leave it where it is, and before you know it, you will be well beyond it. Second, is to do a route check: Where are you running to, and who are you running for? Are you running for a “better” life? More money? A bigger house? A better career? Who are you running for? These are powerful questions that need to be asked. The only question is, will you ask?
If you are running for you and towards your goals you may not get there or have the strength to finish the way you want to. So what and who do we run for? And what is the right goal?
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:7-8 (NIV)
The goal is eternal life with God in heaven, and we can run towards that as our goal. Then we can live for and experience the Kingdom of God now with Jesus in our hearts. This might sound simple, and it is, but it has proven successful over the last almost 2,000 years. You see, it is just like running…just choose to do it, put one foot in front of the other at a steady pace, and always be sure you know where you are going.
So where you running to? Just askin’…
In His Grip,
Pastor Pat
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