Do it Lord!

I'm not sure what kind of goals you have for yourself that no one else may know about. For the past couple of years I have had this idea in my head that I wanted to see how fast I could run a 5K...at my age. This past spring as schedules settled it was apparent that I could add some consistent speed training to my runs towards this goal. I wouldn't be able to surpass the three times a week that I normally run but I could make my runs meaningful, so to speak. So within those boundaries I set out.

My first two races in spring went well and although I met my first goal after 5 weeks of training I wanted to see if I could do better. I wanted to do better. Some would say I am competitive! In retrospect (as is so often the case) I realized that I hadn't planned certain aspects of the training very well. So the next 11 weeks of training was more specific. I had a few options for races that I could work towards but because of conflicts had to pass on the third. Now as our schedules for Fall are picking up I was having second thoughts about whether or not it would even work to properly train to run the upcoming race. So I decided to be creative and run a timed "race" of my own at the track (where there are no distractions - or so I thought.)

This past Tuesday morning I ran 12 and a half laps at the 400m track. I will begin by saying that it was the hardest run I can ever remember doing, even harder than the endurance run in elementary school with Ontario summer humidity! Although I had no physical distractions such as traffic lights and cars, the mental distractions would prove to be much more difficult!

I started my "race" faster than I intended but not out of my range. I went with it though as I realized that I likely would not be able to run that pace later on once fatigue set in (research has shown this as well in case you are interested). Well, fatigue started coming after 5 laps and the desire to stop for a break was enormous. I had guessed this would be an issue and worked to train for this but never thought the mental anguish would be this hard. I knew if I stopped to walk for any amount of time I would not reach my goal.

It was at this time that I really felt like a spiritual battle was happening. I started doubting that I could accomplish what I set out to do, that my training was bogus, that God wasn't honoured by this type of venture, that it didn't really matter if I reached my goal anyways. I was overly aware of the state of my body; the different breathing, dryness of mouth, the shoulder cramping, the continuous extra effort that was required to complete the race at the tempo I trained for and the need to stick to my plan. As the mental fight continued I prayed through all the self defeating thoughts. I was angry that a discipline I felt God had allowed during the summer was being threatened and was destroying my confidence at large! This fight raised my determination and I was made aware of the life analogy forming in my mind.

The book of Hebrews uses the analogy of running a race with perseverance, the race marked out for us. When I set out to gain victory in any area of my life the success of that "race" depends on whether or not I believe what God says about Himself, the situation or about me - about how much he loves me as one of His people. If when things get tough, the situation or pressures feel too hard, if I let up and give in to the moment of weakness or let my unpreparedness for the moment be an excuse, I will get caught up or entangled in the old way. I will believe the lies of the world around me and grow weary. See Hebrews 12:1 - 3. As I was running and processing all this I realized anew the importance of fighting through these battles to the end. The Bible says I have been equipped for for these through God's Word, through the Holy Spirit. God, His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness, 2 Peter 1:3. We have his resurrection power in us to reach goals of faith and maturity. He honours those battles. It is ultimately through His power that we have victory, consistent victory.

I am happy to say that by the grace of God I pushed through and won the mental and physical battle for this 5K. A really beautiful moment happened as I was finishing my last 200m. The song that came up on my iPod was "Do it Lord, Do it Lord, do it Lord, we are praying, do it Lord do it, that Your glory may be seen!" It made me smile. I was so thankful that God cared enough to be part of a living analogy in my life at that moment. Praise the Lord He speaks and moves through all areas of our lives.

In case you are curious, I ended up beating my spring run by 1:36 (that's minutes and seconds!). I had been hoping to knock off at least 40 seconds so this was good!

I'm not sure what battle you are facing right now whether it be; back to school routine, loneliness, a sense of purpose, parenting young children, feeling overextended as you care for your children and your parents, working in a job that you don't like or being in a financial crisis. Whatever the situation, God is with you and wants to fight alongside through all the sweat and tears. He wants to do it so that His glory may be seen.