God will meet you where you are in order to take you where He wants you to go.
Tony Evans
When I think about running, the first thing that comes to mind is running in a race. I think about what it takes to run and win that race. Many would agree it requires a high level of tenacity, grit, determination and perseverance. One could compare their very own life to a marathon. To “make it” in life, it requires similar mental elements that are required in a marathon.
Overall it is a difficult race that we run daily, but there are times when we intentionally want to veer off into a different direction. We are running nonetheless, but we find ourselves wanting to run away. Sometimes this happens subconsciously in different areas of our lives and we hardly recognize it. We repeatedly run away from things we need to face.
Our internal fears tend to take over in times when the unknown could play a role in the outcome. Reflect back when in an argument that was going in circles, you may have wanted to run away and slam to door shut behind you; or when the mistake was equal to the shame you would need to face. Problems that could only be resolved by facing them. Its times like these that one would want to run in a different direction looking for other alternatives of soothing and coping.
Running away is not a solution. However, running is inevitable. Wether we are running away or running consistently in the race, we run nonetheless. Running is not the problem, what matters is what we are running to. We often focus more on what we are running from instead of what we are running to. What we run to will decide how quickly we can get back on track. Even if we run away, deep down we know that eventually we will need to get back in the race.
How we are coping and soothing with the things we tend to run from. Many will run to drugs, alcohol, and other types of addictions as a method of coping in order to forget. Just to find out later that the problem still loomes. Some may just ignore the problem hoping it somehow goes away. Running is reflected in different forms.
Running away or running through our fears, we are still running. In what direction are you running? What are you running to? I decided early to always continue running no matter what I had to face. This boldness and confidence only came through my decision to not run alone, but to run with Jesus.
In the darkest and most confused times in my life I ran to Jesus. I didn’t always make the correct decisions, but when I decided to get back on track, I found that He was always there along side me. I had every right to run away and find other alternatives, but I quickly realized that there was no better alternative than to run to Jesus. This is the only way I was able to be restored and get back in the race.
After running alone and over exhausting all my options I realized that the more I ran in the opposite direction, the more I set myself back. I needed to be restored and face the pain, face the fear and everything else I ran away from. Running to Jesus restored my life and I now continue to run the race restored.
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
1Corinthians 9:24
iNspired 2 iNspire 