Runner's Gospel

I love to run. What began as an indirect means toward the end of playing the greatest sport in the world (soccer, of course), grew into a love of its own after my college years ended. I started to become one of those crazy people who wake up early on vacation for a run. I began dabbling in races, working up even to a marathon, and began to view running as a recharge, even though it expended everything from my body.

I’m a runner, and I love to run. 

And one thing I have loved to ponder throughout the many hours I’ve spent in my Brooks, is how the Gospel compares and contrasts running to life. 

The most obvious example comes to mind from the New Testament:

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“I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7

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Timothy describes the sensation and experience of completing the authentic Christian life as similar unto finishing a race. Life, and the journey it requires, is like a race. The joys and sorrows and highs and lows and endorphin rushes and challenges that life brings with it, are all similar to different parts of competing in a race. 

And finishing a race is hard. Particularly the end of the race is hard. Extremely hard. I have competed in races where my body has felt totally incapable of proceeding, where my emotions have been even more spent, and my mind was fighting against me to get to that finish line. It can feel impossible, futile, useless, meaningless, like there will never come an end. 

And that is so much like life. 

The path and course set out before us as Christians is not a walk in the park. It’s not a cute Turkey trot 5k. I would go so far as to say you will feel under-trained and unqualified. You will hit elevated and rocky terrain. The environment will be arid, harsh, dry, or windy, cold, and raining. Your feet will grow numb, your stomach become nauseous, your head start to pound, and your eyes fill with tears. I have felt this way in races. 

And all of us as Christians, are competing in the greatest of ultra-marathons. Those of you reading this thinking, “well, I’m just not athlete,” I challenge to stop thinking that! God is not calling you to comfort, but to greatness, and if the thought of starting out on a painful but life-changing trek doesn’t sound like a good idea because it’s too hard, you definitely need to reconsider this thing called life. You will inevitably reach your wits end in some capacity. You will have moments when you begin to believe you will never get around that last bend. 

But there is an end. There is a finish line. And it is worth every single step of struggle and suffering we take alone the way. 

And the best news is, we don’t have to run alone. 

The prophet Isaiah tells us: 

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“They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint.”

Isaiah 40:31

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I have competed in races where I hands down would not have finished if I hadn’t been running with a friend who was willing to half carry half drag me across the finish line. 

God gives us the amazing gift of other runners to keep pace with. He gives us family, friends, spouses, community, mentors, and role models who give us those pep talks when we’re in the pits of runner’s desolations. 

But even better than that, He gives us Himself. 

If we wait upon the Lord, if we keep our hope and our eyes fixed on Him, He will provide every ounce of strength we need. There may still be immense pain along the way, but there will never be a pain we have to endure alone. 

Relying upon Him, my friends, is the only way to finish the race set before us. Putting our trust in ourselves, a plan, the world’s definition of success, pleasure, money, or anything else will only result in weariness. 

So buckle up. When you signed up for being a Christian, you did not sign up for an easy life. Rather, quite the opposite. And what I love about my own running journey is that I have learned that I am far more capable and strong than I ever give myself credit for. 

You are capable and strong. You can do this. You are being given everything you need. You can not only run in this race, but you can finish it too. 

He runs with you.