Running

Image by Nika Akin from Pixabay

When I was a rebellious teenager, I ran from all the formal religion my parents practiced. The laws, the rules, the ceremonies. Eventually, I ran from God too, but He pursued me.

He sent dreams, visions, and scripture to pull me back into a closer relationship with Him. I’m glad I turned my face back towards Him. The trials I endured would have been much harder to bear alone.

My first response to a hardship now is prayer. But not a prayer to deliver me. Instead, I pray for discernment, to know God’s will, and I run straight into His arms.

Even though that sometimes means difficulties, I’d rather run with Him through rough terrain than run alone on a smooth path. He knows the upcoming pitfalls, the ones I can’t see. He’ll guide me through them, over them, or around them. He knows the best path. Not perhaps for immediate rescue or happiness, but for my holiness. He’s never left me in a dark place without any light or a way out.

Lori Roeleveld also stated in Running from a Crazy Man, “Jesus calls us to be beautiful impossibilities everyday because we are not actually here to accomplish something. We are here to be something.”

That line spoke directly to my heart and reminded me of my favorite quote from Maya Angelou. “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

In other words, be God’s lamp in this dark world.

“…let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Hebrews 12:1-3.

Amen.