Monday, August 16, 2010

Running Shoes and A Little Celebration

Before we get started in today's post, I want tell you something that is exciting for me. Today I am celebrating my 100th post! There's confetti, noise makers,balloons, and celebration music in my imagination right now! I know it may not seem like much and mentioning this might seem silly to you, but its a marker for me and my relying on God. This day would not have been possible without Him, He fuels my fire. Secondly, today wouldn't have happened without you, the people who read these words daily. Thank you for doing life with me everyday. With that said, lets dig into the 100th post on Beyond Sunday Morning.

Yesterday our pastor taught on 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 and his message was entitled “Run the Race to Win It.” He told us that the race we run requires determination, direction, and discipline. At one point during his message, he asked a question. What takes you out of the race? As I thought about my daily life and my relationship with God being a race I run and the things I allow to affect that race, my mind went straight to what is most important to a runner.

Running Shoes.

I need good running shoes if I am going to go very far in this race and showing up in the wrong shoes will soon take me out of the race.

Can you imagine how much success a runner would have if she showed up in stilettos? I mean, come on, I can’t even walk through the Food Giant after church without my feet killing me! The first thing I do when I get home is kick those babies off. If I tried to run a race in heels, I would surely end up with blisters hurting so badly that I would drop out of the race. Did I show up to the race just to “look good”?

My boots, I love my boots, probably because I got them on sale. I have 2 pair, a brown pair and a black pair. They are perfect for fall and winter and did mention I got them on sale?!? But – I couldn’t run in them very well. I might do ok for a little bit, but given my lack of grace, coordination, and athletic ability, before too long, I would break my ankle. A broken ankle won’t take me to the finish line very quickly.

Then there’s the staple that no girl should be without, flip flops. My mom will probably ask to be buried in hers, even though she has slipped and fallen several times and always says “it was them stupid flip flops.” They are much the thing for summer these days, but running in them – have you tried it? I will admit that I have and it wasn’t attractive. I think one of them actually hit my head on its way down after it sailed off the bottom of my foot lofting into the air. I don’t recommend it.

How many times do you and I show up for the race with the wrong shoes on? Is that what happens to us as we do this Jesus thing on a daily basis? Do we show up in the wrong shoes and by ten A.M. we are already out of the race because we’ve either got blisters on our feet, ice on our ankles, or we’re searching over in the weeds somewhere for the long lost flip flop? We didn’t run very far before we dropped out.

We have to wear the right shoes and sometimes I think we would rather wear the more “fashionable” alternative because we get run alongside those we are comfortable with. Does “fashionable” take us to the places where God really wants us to run? He wants us to touch people with a part of him, and as we run by them, feel the breeze from Him, causing them to jump in the race behind us. That’s what we are running for. I’m not running just so that I can whine on the sidelines with a blister on my heel that wearing the wrong shoe has given me or because someone else stepped on my foot resulting in a twisted ankle. Wearing incorrect shoes sends the wrong message to the spectators and they will wonder why we bother to run at all. We appear to them to be in the wrong place, ill prepared, and unequipped.

Do we run to just be running, so we can say we were in the race, or do we run the race to win it?

God, sign me up for the race. I have on my running shoes today. I pray God that I run the distance You have set for me in this particular day and tomorrow I pray that I remember to wear the right shoes again. I don’t want to waste Kingdom time crying over blisters and sprained ankles that I have brought upon myself from bad choices I make. I must decide every day if I am going to run the race in my running shoes, or just clomp around in my heels making blisters, twisting my ankle in my boots, or show up in my flip flops only to lose them on the sidelines, having to sit this part of the race out. Oh God – I want to feel that “runner’s high” I often hear about. A high that comes from chasing after You and letting your breeze cool the people watching the race. Thank You for inviting me to participate in your race today, I pray it’s a spiritual marathon. In Jesus’ name, Amen.


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