Friday, March 16, 2012

Keep running!

A few years ago I was preparing a message for one of our conferences.  It was based on Hebrews 12:1 about running our race with perseverance.  I was praying that God would lead me to the resources I needed to gather information for my talk.

Soon after praying, I got an email from a friend who is a fitness instructor and she was offering to train a group of women to run a 5K.  Something in my head said, "There's your resource ~ you should train for the 5K." I promptly ignored the voice and clicked out of the email.

That was not the kind of resource I meant.  I meant books, or articles.  Something that I could read from the comfort of my couch.  I strongly dislike any form of physical exercise and to make matters worse the training would be at 6:00am!! I dislike getting out of bed early in the morning almost as much as I dislike physical exercise.

A few days went by and I could not ignore the prompting so I conceded and signed up for the training.

When I was in school people would always think, because I have long legs, that I am a runner.  But I am not.  My legs just don't work that way.  I have weak ankles and no stamina.

But I made it a goal to finish the 5K.  The first day we just did one lap around her neighborhood and I was pretty glad I did that without passing out.  I could not imagine that I could ever accomplish much more than that.  But Jenni, my trainer, encouraged me that I would build strength and endurance as I went along.  I would have been happy to settle for being able to run a few laps around her neighborhood but she kept pushing and to my amazement I was able to complete the race.

God may be calling you to something that you feel like is stretch for your current ability and skill set.  They dream that he's given you may overwhelm you at times and it may tempting to settle for less.

But be confident of this ~
 "...he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
 Phillipians 1:6

As you keep moving forward towards your goals and dreams God will give you just what you need for every step of the journey.  So keep running!

2 comments:

  1. Thanks Tracey for sharing your insight. It seems my life is constantly in a state of transition. I find myself asking God when I can just settle into something like "normal" people. Unfortunately that still hasnt happened. God keeps prodding me on to new things and although I dont understand why, I trust that He has my best interest at heart. He is constantly molding my character and increasing my skills. It is not always easy to be guided this way but I know that as I am obedient to his leading, His will is fulfilled in my life. So again, thanks for the reminder. I really needed to hear it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Brings back memories!!! Great reminder for me today!!! :) Love ya Tracey!!!

    ReplyDelete