So about a month ago I was lying in bed (I do some of my best thinking there) and I was thinking about running.
Now if any of you know me, you know I am in no way a runner at heart! At all! I hate hate hate it. So you might be wondering why I was thinking about it.
Well, I was thinking about it because I was thinking about my family's vacation last year. We went to Gull Lake Ministries out in Hickory Conner Michigan. It's a family camp and amazing and y'all should go! Anywho, I was thinking about the teen group (called High Tide) and the lesson for the week. It was called Tough Faith and basically it paralleled the Christian faith to that of a Tough Mudder.
For those of you who don't know, a Tough Mudder is a crazy obstacles/marathon race. They have lasers, mud pits and all sorts of other crazy stuff. To learn more about Tough Mudders click here!
Anyways, I was thinking about that and just kinda expounded.
Picture if you will, a long, rocky road. Black trees line your path and you're running. You strain your eyes, hoping to see the end of the road, but all you see is a glistening something on the horizon. "Is that the goal?" you pant, growing weary.
Now I'm going to explain a bit. In my head, the road is our life. The goal, ultimately what we're striving for is to be more like God and what we're heading for is heaven. Philippians 3:14 says, "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." We should keep our eyes on God. He is what will keep us from stumbling. But...
You here voices calling out on either side, enticing you off of the path. You're eyes flick to the side. A beautiful man stands there. His eyes glow like diamonds and he wags his finger at you too come closer. You slow your pace...
The enemy. The one who tries to wave us off the path. The one who knows this race is harder than what you can endure.
But you can.
The enemy is full of crap. Because you have a help mate in this race ... your Coach and He's not going to fail you. Not ever.
You slow your pace, but you don't stop. A gentle hand falls on your shoulder and you turn to see your Coach. He smiles at you and shakes his head. "You need to say on the track, my love." You nod and head back onto the path.
The ground gets rough under your weary feet. You're eyes drift down and you sigh. The ground is full of sink holes and obstacles. Why not just give up? you think dejectedly. If this is what the rest of the race looks like than it sure stinks.
Yeah. Life. It throws some crap at you. Trust me, I know. I've had friends betray me, I've had crushing words thrown at me, I've had Crap with a capitol C in my eighteen years.
But this I know. When I want to yell and scream, my Coach, my Jesus, has never left my side. and when I get to weak to take another step, he steps in and picks me up and carries me.
You sigh and drop to your knees. You ball your fists and let the tears of frustration and rage flow. "You didn't tell me that it would be this hard! Where are you when I need you, Coach!?"
"I am right here, my child."
Strong arms lift you and you feel the steady throb of a man running. Running with you tight in His arms.
Soon you're strong enough to run again. But yet again your eyes stray. This time, you see a bunch of your friends in a mud pit. They're struggling to emerge. But some of them are laughing and having a great time.
"I should try to help them!" You think. So in you go. You struggle less then most and you pull and tug them out. But oh! That mud is fun! Before you know it, you're sucked into! Suddenly you're among the others that are struggling to break free of the mud's tight grip. You call out and suddenly you feel your Coach's hand in yours. He yanks you out, wipes you off and looks you in the eye.
"Stay on the path!" he admonishes and off you go again.
Ah. The mud pit. This is where the Tough Mudder comes in! The mud is sin. Hebrews 12:1 says,
"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us," (emphases added) It's so easy to get sucked into sin. Even when we go into it to help someone else out. The best way to enter into a situatian where we're trying to help someone else out of sin, is by praying long before hand. Otherwise, if we don't have the help of our Coach, we'll be just like the poor souls floundering in the mud of sin.
Finally, my last point is once again on looking toward Jesus.
Hebrews 12 continues with this verse:
"fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Anyways, I was thinking about that and just kinda expounded.
Picture if you will, a long, rocky road. Black trees line your path and you're running. You strain your eyes, hoping to see the end of the road, but all you see is a glistening something on the horizon. "Is that the goal?" you pant, growing weary.
Now I'm going to explain a bit. In my head, the road is our life. The goal, ultimately what we're striving for is to be more like God and what we're heading for is heaven. Philippians 3:14 says, "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." We should keep our eyes on God. He is what will keep us from stumbling. But...
You here voices calling out on either side, enticing you off of the path. You're eyes flick to the side. A beautiful man stands there. His eyes glow like diamonds and he wags his finger at you too come closer. You slow your pace...
The enemy. The one who tries to wave us off the path. The one who knows this race is harder than what you can endure.
But you can.
The enemy is full of crap. Because you have a help mate in this race ... your Coach and He's not going to fail you. Not ever.
You slow your pace, but you don't stop. A gentle hand falls on your shoulder and you turn to see your Coach. He smiles at you and shakes his head. "You need to say on the track, my love." You nod and head back onto the path.
The ground gets rough under your weary feet. You're eyes drift down and you sigh. The ground is full of sink holes and obstacles. Why not just give up? you think dejectedly. If this is what the rest of the race looks like than it sure stinks.
Yeah. Life. It throws some crap at you. Trust me, I know. I've had friends betray me, I've had crushing words thrown at me, I've had Crap with a capitol C in my eighteen years.
But this I know. When I want to yell and scream, my Coach, my Jesus, has never left my side. and when I get to weak to take another step, he steps in and picks me up and carries me.
You sigh and drop to your knees. You ball your fists and let the tears of frustration and rage flow. "You didn't tell me that it would be this hard! Where are you when I need you, Coach!?"
"I am right here, my child."
Strong arms lift you and you feel the steady throb of a man running. Running with you tight in His arms.
Soon you're strong enough to run again. But yet again your eyes stray. This time, you see a bunch of your friends in a mud pit. They're struggling to emerge. But some of them are laughing and having a great time.
"I should try to help them!" You think. So in you go. You struggle less then most and you pull and tug them out. But oh! That mud is fun! Before you know it, you're sucked into! Suddenly you're among the others that are struggling to break free of the mud's tight grip. You call out and suddenly you feel your Coach's hand in yours. He yanks you out, wipes you off and looks you in the eye.
"Stay on the path!" he admonishes and off you go again.
Ah. The mud pit. This is where the Tough Mudder comes in! The mud is sin. Hebrews 12:1 says,
"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us," (emphases added) It's so easy to get sucked into sin. Even when we go into it to help someone else out. The best way to enter into a situatian where we're trying to help someone else out of sin, is by praying long before hand. Otherwise, if we don't have the help of our Coach, we'll be just like the poor souls floundering in the mud of sin.
Finally, my last point is once again on looking toward Jesus.
Hebrews 12 continues with this verse:
"fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
You hear a noise behind you. You turn and see the mud pit again. Shame and guilt swarm into your heart.
You feel a hand turn your head forward. "That's the past my dearest. Don't dwell on that. Strain for what's ahead."
And that's that. Look forward. Not behind. Run with Jesus, the founder of the race.
In Jesus Christ, as a fellow runner of the faith, I want to encourage you! I am running next to you! If you ever need me, I'm here to pray for you as you run this run! It's though sometimes, it sucks sometimes (pardon the expression), sometimes you want to pass out and give up. But I'm here to tell you something ... it all happens to strengthen you! There is a reason for everything.
Crap happened to my family and me. Yeah. But I'll tell you something. That crap put us where we are, put us on what I'm calling the Augustine Adventure. Without that crap, this blog wouldn't be here. I wouldn't have meet many of the wonderful people I have. I might not have been on Crew of Hello Dolly or grown in many of the ways I have.
This race and all the obstacles and struggles that go with it are for a reason.
And honestly, if I'm running on the path marked out for me, in the race my Coach has prepared and trained me for, if I'm running with him ...
Than I'm right where I'm meant to be.
For His glory,
Anna
