I'm in the last couple of days of some great bonding time with our three month old granddaughter. Every grandparent should have the chance to do this once in a while. I mentioned in the last post that my schedule as a babysitter has forced me to shift my normal exercise routine. Instead of running in the wee hours of the morning, I have to work out in the afternoon.
I really am better when running in the morning. I seem to be more lethargic, and running is somewhat harder late in the day. Still, I was doing fairly well as I came to the end of about five miles. I finished up at the high school sports complex here in Marshall, Missouri. I ran past the tennis courts, the baseball field, and the soccer field - where our son was coaching the women's team through their practice. Heading into the football stadium, I thought it might be a good challenge to run the last six minutes or so up and down the steps of the stadium. Then a serious stitch in my side made me think better of it. I hadn't had one of those in a long time - probably since the last time I ran in the afternoon! It hurt bad enough that, with about four minutes to go in the run, I seriously thought about just quitting. The last four minutes of that run were really sluggish and ugly, but I managed to get it done. It felt better to ache and plod than to give up.
In many things God equips us and calls us to do, the last stretch of those efforts in ministry and discipleship can be the hardest, just like the last stretch of a distance run. That might be when we're most prone to cash in the chips, and for good reason. These are the times when we are most fatigued, most discouraged, most misunderstood, most confused, or whatever the stitch in our side may be. It may feel as they we're finishing ugly. It's not about us - it's about Him. We need to finish.
If you are in the last four minutes of a run in following Jesus, and your side hurts bad, my prayer is especially with you this day. I'll see you around the next bend in the river. Keep paddling.
Raking Leaves
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Fall is here. The sun is moving towards the edge of the frame where, in
just a few weeks it will hit the bumper rail and start back towards the
other side...
2 years ago
3 comments:
Thank you for this :)
After a town hall meeting, I thought about how much easier it would be if I just washed my hands of everything. My husband laughed at me and said, "you know this matters to much for you to quit." He is right. I made a conscious decision a year or so ago to try to listen and let God lead and guide me. I had considered myself a Christian for years, driven to Bible and disciple studies. For a time, I thought that was enough. Now I know that my relationship with God was only in "seed" form; now I feel a little of that seed has formed the beginning of a root. Hearing the things that fellow Christians were concerned about and fearing that we will fail God that night, I felt like something was trying to dig the root up and pull it out; just like a weed that you cannot pull out, my root is deeper now than before. I won't quit - even though it sometimes hurts a bit. How painful was it for Jesus to die on a cross to save me?!
My experince with afternoon running is like yours. I have to make sure I go far enough away from home that I have to run back before it gets dark.
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