During my training, my life suddenly revolved around one thing; Preparing for Race DAY. This ONE day would be the culmination of my months of hard work and precise measurements. Early morning runs, finding the perfect pair of socks, the only hair tie that “works”, the perfectly balanced snack to refuel at the exact mile marker your body needs, putting one foot in front of the other. It’s harder to do the longer you go. I trained and trained and trained some more. I would run, a mile or some days a block further than the day before. There was no doubt that when I pushed myself I would see the improvement next time I ran, so even though it took everything I had in me to run that day, the next day I was able to go further or faster.
Hours that add up to at least weeks of running, all pay off on race day when you cross that finish line. I can honestly say that I enjoyed every minute of that half marathon, because I trained for it, I was ready. I knew how to pace myself to finish. In fact I think I had a corny grin on my face for a good part of the race. I crossed the finish line, and actually felt like I could keep going. It was exhilarating for me.
Hebrews 12:1 says “…and Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.”
There are many parallels in living life with God and training for a race. I feel like I’ve been training these past few months, not for a marathon, but something huge the Lord is putting before us. I think about how easy it is for me to get distracted, instead of looking ahead, I look back. And just as this would be detrimental to me in training, it can be detrimental to my faith to keep questioning what happened with Olivia. Of course I have questions that will never go away, but I cannot focus on them. I need to look ahead. My questions will be answered on the other side of heaven. It would be so easy to just sit and stare at pictures of Olivia, and let it tear my heart to pieces until there’s nothing left, but that would get me nowhere. I want to hear Jesus. I want to see him. I want to help people that need Jesus. I want to fight for other babies, so they have the chance at life that Olivia never had. I want to have the Lord’s perspective on life around me. I want to love like Jesus does. I want to trust him fully with everything in my life, no matter what.
I have to keep going, even though there are times I don’t want to, I know that every choice I make will either push me further or closer to the end. I want to run with perseverance, letting nothing hinder me. Every training run takes effort and endurance but it’s worth it. Every day I choose to live in joy is worth it. “The joy of the Lord is my strength”, it propels me forward into the next thing. I set my sights on what the Lord has called us to here on this earth, and what the pay off will be eternally…and I put one foot in front of the other with my eye on the prize. If crossing the finish line was easy we wouldn’t need to train. The Lord calls us to walk in places that few will attempt, but I want to. And I want to be ready, I want to be trained to run, and run to win…SO each day I choose to live righteously. I choose to do the things that will help me finish the race with joyful heart.
