Happy New Year to all our Draw Close Blog readers. It has been a while since I have posted and have missed a few weeks at the end of the year, but isn’t that just the way of it? At the end of the year my motivation takes a bit of a plummet and frankly, I just want to hide away somewhere. The new year should bring plenty of hope and expectation, with fresh goals and resolutions to be different in one way or another. Even that can become a massive pressure when things are tough.
I remember my husband saying that he would take up running a few years ago. I figured as long as he doesn’t ask me to join him, he is welcome to give it a go. He informed me he was going out for a run … the first run I might add … and left the house. About 45 minutes later he arrived home and said that he had just run 4 miles. 4 miles! How? I mean, without any couch to 5k training or any previous running experience. How is that fair on the rest of us? He has gone to run a couple of marathons. I figure that there are some people who are just natural runners … I am not one of those people! Officially I’m not supposed to do impact sport like running, but his success was definitely inspiring.
Running short distances must be easier than the gruelling marathon. I have watched a few of those and seen the pain that these remarkable people put themselves through. Apparently it could be good for you; recent research has shown that marathon runners can “reduce” the age of their arteries by four years and also lower their blood pressure.
This idea of running a race was written about in Hebrews.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, 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, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:1-3
The image of the race is being likened to our lives. We aren’t here just to complete a short sprint and then sit back and let the life happen to us but to build muscle and perseverance to run for the whole of our lives.
When I was journaling Deuteronomy 32 I was struck by this verse.
Therefore, you will see the land only from a distance; you will not enter the land I am giving to the Israelites. Deuteronomy 32:12
GOD was speaking to Moses who had led the people out of Egypt and through the wilderness for 40 years. It is a very sad verse. Moses wasn’t going into the promised land. He had led them and put up with their whinging, prayed for them and guided them into becoming a nation, yet his race wasn’t finishing at the promised land. It wasn’t because Moses was somehow far from GOD, in the very next verse Moses is described as a man of GOD. He was stopped at the very end from entering because of a mistake made years before not because he didn’t love or serve GOD. He had lacked faith at the rock and hadn’t trusted in GOD’s instructions. He had done his own thing.
How many times do I do that?
I live with grace but that doesn’t mean that I just let it all happen around me. I don’t want to just view the place GOD wanted me to be, but never get there. I want to abide there.
Moses, a man of GOD, messed up. He knew that he would never go into the promised land but didn’t stop running his race. He didn’t give up and throw a tantrum, he didn’t scream and tell GOD that it wasn’t fair. He kept running. His race didn’t finish with the sin. Moses was a fallible man but also a remarkable man of faith. He is an inspiration.
I can look at him and how he ran his race and find hope. Moses realigned his focus back to GOD and didn’t slip into passivity.
If you had a wonderful year or the absolute worst, if you are feeling spiritually fit or spiritually flabby, it really is never too late to get up and run your race again. Yes, it might take courage. It will include throwing away a whole load of baggage that has hindered. It will certainly feel uncomfortable and muscles will ache. It might even be a bit intimidating when there appear to be natural runners speeding past or getting further. But we have all been called to run the race marked out for us. That means that only I can run my race and only you can run yours. It is no good me trying to jump lanes or following what your race looks like or you attempting to run mine.
If you are reading this at the beginning of the year or any time afterwards, there is never a better time to get up and run. I’m praying as I write this that you will know the encouragement of the only coach that really matters, the One that has run a perfect race so that you don’t have that pressure and the One that wants you to reach your destination. That you find His designed training that is specifically for you causes you to be more that you thought you ever were but He had seen in you all along. I also pray that you hear His cheering you on above all the other voices and that when you hear His voice you know where to place your next step.
The verse in Hebrews doesn’t say anything about speed but speaks volumes about the need for focus because there will be times when we will want to give up. Finally then, I pray that you do not grow weary or loose heart, but keep your eyes fixed on Him, our prize.
Let us run with perseverance [endurance, active persistence, stamina, dedication, stability, commitment] the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1
Katy 😉
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