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.
This has to be one of my favorite verses... for so many reasons which I will continue to address over the course of the Run for God posts!
But... sometimes I struggle with "seeing" the Path God has marked out for me. I trust that he knows every step I will take, every action I will do, every word I will say, but sometimes I just wish he would email me that master plan blueprint for my life. See then, I would know that I am following his plan for my life and not Charity's...
Sometimes, I get tangled in the/my web of sin or caught up in my past failures... that's when I lose focus. I take my eyes off the pioneer and perfecter of Faith. That's when I remember (or get reminded) that the only way I can learn what path I should follow is to be in relationship with God. Every day. Every minute. Every moment. I have to keep my eyes fixed on Christ all the time or I will stray EVERY TIME.
That's a lot of what week 2 focused on. Now let's back track to week 1's run in the rain. Somewhere in the craziness of the first night, God introduced me to a really amazing lady. (God's introduced me to a ton of amazing people, but I'm going to focus on one this round) I can not begin to tell you how much just the limited interaction I have had with her has meant to my life.
Kay Campbell is a women after God's heart. Her smile lights up the room. I can see her energy and enthusiasm for life. I just love her. On the first night, I ran beside her for a moment and she began to share a really awesome story with me. After the story, she told me she has tons of these stories because she keeps a journal and guess what she writes about??? RUNNING!
Hello God! Thanks for the introduction. So after the run, I had to get more of these stories and I wanted her to share some of these with our group. On night two, she shared one. While that story was amazing, I'm going to share another one with you... So here it is in her words:
Keep your focus on Him and not the circumstances. I think He is teaching me to discipline my mind to focus on Him when I run. As long as I am worshipping and praising Him, I can run the race. As soon as my focus is redirected to my circumstances (how tired I am, how hot I am, my feet hurt, my side hurts, I am out of breath, the sun is too bright, the rain is too cold, etc) then I can’t continue and want to quit. I am learning to keep my eyes on Him alone.
Sometimes when I run, I imagine that Jesus is at the finish line, and I am running to meet Him like I will someday in heaven. I understand that I should live my life the same way, and every day brings me closer to meeting Him face to face.
Sometimes I imagine Him running beside me, and just like in life, I am comforted knowing that I am never alone.
No matter what comes my way, keep my eyes on Him, praise Him, and keep on running!
And all I can say is AMEN! God has opened so many doors through Run for God. I am thankful to get to be on this journey with Kay and so many other wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ.
5 minute warm up, 90 seconds of running alternated with 2 minutes of walking for 20 minutes, 5 min cool down and stretch.
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