“Let us run with endurance the
race
God has set before us.” Hebrews
12:1
I am NOT a runner!
I wish I was! However, I do enjoy walking…and hiking! I love, love, love being
outside surrounded by God’s creation! I have walked many a mile through the
years, enjoying the sun and talking to God about anything and everything!
Even though I am
not a runner, I have been thinking a lot lately about running the race God has
set before me. My ‘race’ has been pretty tough this past year…and I keep
wondering…What does my future race look like? Where do You want me to run?
Exactly how much endurance are You talking about, Lord? It has been a really
hard race this year…how much harder is it going to be? How far have I got to
go? How do I go about training more for this race? Ever ask these kind of
questions when He starts talking to you about your ‘race’?
I have been
thinking about some of the times we read about people running in the Bible. I
can just see the shepherds running to Bethlehem to see Baby Jesus, the lepers
running to the priest after Jesus healed them and the one running back to say
‘thank you’, Peter running to the tomb to see if Jesus had truly risen from the
dead…These are just some of the examples that have come to my mind.
In all these
scriptures, I can just imagine their excitement as they ran! I asked the Lord
to teach me something from each of these situations in scripture. I want to train for my race by learning from
others in the Word.
Here is what I am
thinking…The shepherds were eager to see Jesus and then to go and share about
His glory with others! I know God is telling me that I should be so excited about
His glory and greatness that I should “run” to share Him with others in my path.
Oh, Lord…may I do that for You! May my
light be bright for You! May others see the reflection of Your glory and
greatness in how I respond to life and your call on my life. This thinking
process reminded me of one of my “life verses”. “You
are a letter from Christ…this letter is written not with pen and ink but with
the Spirit of the Living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on
human hearts. II Cor 3:3 We are all letters reflecting something…We each
have to decide what kind of letter we are going to be to the world!
The lepers were so
excited to be healed…yet only one came back and thanked Jesus for healing him.
Is He reminding me to be so grateful for
what He has done and is doing in my life…to focus on the good I can see, the
preciousness of what I have had with Pete and not dwell on my sadness in
missing him? I know the Lord still has a race for me to run even though I am
not liking having to run it without my “running partner”! God keeps reminding
me that just because I am having to run it now without Pete that doesn’t excuse
me from the race! He still wants me to run and to run as hard as I can
toward His calling on my life. Yet He gives us a choice in life…we can opt out
of the race…but I don’t want to sit on the sideline! I want to be right where
He wants me, I want to be used in this race…even when the race is hard!
Peter was
overjoyed at the thought that his Savior had risen from the dead and ran to the
tomb to find it empty! That was the next step in his journey to become a strong
leader and conduit for sharing what Jesus can do. I think God is reminding me
to remember the tomb is empty! My Savior lives, Pete is living with Him, and my
job while still on this earth is to be a conduit, too, for sharing Jesus!
''I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us
onward--to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back''. Philippians
3:14
I once read these words in a Tozer devotional: “The more we run
toward Christ and the closer we draw to Him, the more we light up this world
and become salt in it.” Oh, may we all
be salt and light in this dark world!
Major Marathon news!!
Pete’s brother, Andy, is going to run a marathon in Columbia on
March 9th in memory of Pete. He is hoping that many of you will
consider making a donation to Pete’s Mission Fund at Shandon Baptist Church (see information on the side above) as a way of
supporting his efforts in running this race. This is a huge step of commitment
and faith for Andy. Please encourage him with your thoughts, prayers and a gift
to the fund if you can as he makes this wonderful effort to honor his brother!
We have all been so touched with the many gifts to Pete’s Mission Fund and hope
that this is one more way we can continue to provide opportunities for people
to contribute believing, as Andy says, "that God will use these funds to advance His kingdom around the world".
Seeking to ‘run the race’….in many ways!
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