Skip to main content

Running With Endurance and Giving Up

"May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ."
2 Thessalonians 3:5

This week in my jogging journey, I had a day of triumph, followed by a day of failure. I started a new week in my 5k training program and my running time increased. So far, I've typically spent more time walking than running, building up my endurance and muscles, but for the first time ever, my walking and running times were going to be about equal. 

I'm going to take a moment to give myself a little credit for my first day running this week. My mile pace was 13:25. I walk/jogged for 30 minutes, and 16 of those minutes were jogging. I was so excited!   It was tough, but I made it! 

But, then came Day 2. 

I usually run right around sunrise, mostly because I need to go before my husband goes to work, but also because it's cooler in the day. On this particular day, I ran two hours later, when the sun was well in the sky and it was considerably warmer than what's normal for me. I didn't expect the heat to make such a difference, but it did. 

So much so, I had to quit my jog four minutes early.

I hadn't hydrated well enough and had to stop, go home, and get water. 

I usually walk/jog around 2.3 miles and had to quit at 1.6. I had actually increased my pace by over a minute, (12:28!) but all I could think about was that I quit.

It may not seem like that big of a deal, but it was so discouraging to me. I know everyone has their off days, and I know I was running in heat I wasn't used to, but I've always pushed through and made it to the end. 

So this is where the fear creeps in.

"Am I even going to be able to finish a 5k?"

"Am I just destined to not really be a runner?"

"Should I go ahead and quit completely now while I'm ahead?"

While thinking on all of this, I felt God lay on my heart a connection between my jogging journey and my present journey in life with friendships. 

It wasn't too long ago that I felt as if I failed at friendships and instead of following 2 Thessalonians 3:5 and letting the Lord lead my heart into an understanding of the love of God, I quit. I built a wall around myself and shut down the outgoing personality I used to have just eight years ago. I refused to reach out and kept to myself, because if I didn't have to truly open up to anyone, I wouldn't get hurt. 

But being alone gets lonely after awhile.

It wasn't long before my loneliness led me to reach out to the Lord and I began to practice the patient endurance that comes from Christ that 2 Thessalonians 3:5 speaks about. I prayed for God to improve me from the inside out, to seek His Will first and to show me my worth from His perspective, instead of the world's perspective. Through much Bible study and yes, patient endurance, I have made progress.

And I've also been blessed with beautiful friendships.

This is why I'll put my running shoes back on and go out again Monday. 

Quitting something God has called me to do is not an option. 

Even on the days when I feel like I can't do it, I have faith that the Lord will help me. He will remind me of the patient endurance that only comes from Him.

Not just in running, but in life.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Even When I Run Away ...

"The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18 It's been over a year since I wrote in this blog. The past year has brought many life changes for our family. My husband returned from deployment and we packed up and moved across the country. I've had to adjust to a new home, a new school for my son, a new church, and new friends ... New everything. I haven't written in this particular blog because it's always been my place to share about my running journey and how my relationship with God has matured through that quiet time with Him. But over the last year or so, I haven't really been running.  And I've felt further from God than I've felt in a really long time.  At the beginning of 2017, I slowly began running again. A friend and I signed up for a half marathon and despite the sometimes awful weather here, I haven't missed a training run yet. I began to feel like I was fin
12 comments
Read more

Letter from a Recovering Racist

It all started with books. As soon as I learned to read, my world began to change. When I was born, my world was small. I grew up in the Deep South. Fields for miles. Mosquitoes big enough to drain you dry. I lived in the middle of nowhere. Everyone around me looked just like me . Until I started kindergarten. As I grew older, I learned beside people who didn't look like me. But as time went on, the lines were drawn in the sand. We were "us" and they were "them." The lines were drawn with words, attitudes, and beliefs. Were there big explosions of speech and blatant actions? Yes. But most were whispers. It's easy to deny a whisper. A look. A thought. An idea. But many whispers together make a lot of noise. And the sound was deafening. The older I grew, the more books I read. Although I interacted daily with people not like me, I never listened to their voices. Not in person. But I read. I read and I read and I read. I read boo
1 comment
Read more

New

I was 15 years old the first time he told me no one would ever love me. With those words, my life changed. I saw myself as unlovable. I was worthless. I was unwanted. I was broken. I was dirty. Before that day, I loved myself well and I felt like I loved others well. Not to "toot my own horn," but I just had a naturally generous spirit. That still lingers in my love language today. Giving is how I both show and feel love. But something shifted in that moment.  The word love became a weapon. It became a tool to manipulate.  And it broke my heart. Suddenly, I found myself trying to earn it. No one could ever love me just for being me. They could only love what I could give or do for them. This always played itself out in one of two ways: I'd either give and give and give until I had nothing left and I was left feeling unloved and worthless ... or I would refuse to give anything at all and I was still left feeling unloved and worthle
Post a Comment
Read more