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…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. -Hebrews 12:1
Onward Christian soldier. Keep going. Don’t look back. Run with perseverance. Never quit. Never give up. Move forward. Fix your eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of your faith.
Have you ever experienced a time, maybe even a season, in your life where running was the last thing you felt like doing? Everyone around you kept telling you to keep going. Be strong. It will all be ok. And you believed it. A little. But deep down all you really wanted to do was quit. The ache in your heart was so great and the longing for someone just to tell you that it would be ok to sit this one out was consuming.
Maybe you lost your job and it has been months since you’ve seen a steady paycheck. Maybe you lost a loved one sooner than what you ever expected. Maybe your spouse has asked you for a divorce. Or the diagnosis was cancer. Maybe your child seems to be rebelling against everything you ever taught them in church. Perhaps your parents need more care than you have the time or money to spend. It could be that your life-long soul mate just hasn’t materialized yet and the loneliness takes over more often than you are willing to admit.
What if what you really need to do is stop running and just be still?
There’s no shame in that. In fact I think it takes more courage for us to admit that we can’t handle it all. I think it takes more will to stop and to be still. Often we gain this inertia while running because that’s what we are supposed to do, persevere. But we don’t realize that somewhere along the way we started running away from and not toward the comforting arms of Christ.
It’s ok to be human. God created you that way. He created you to need Him. Sure, we are to run the race with passion in our hearts. We are to be so on fire that the trail is ablaze from our enthusiasm. But life is hard. Your savior knows this and He knows you. He knows what you can handle, with His help. And He’s there fighting for you as you take every step.
So, close your eyes. Breathe in the aroma of the peace and comfort provided only from the one who made you. Allow His arms to envelope your soul. Hand him the keys to the anxiety in your mind. Take just a moment to be still and know that He is God and with that truth everything else falls into place.
