Running Our Race

Run one step at a time – “…and let us run with patience, the race that is set before us.”

When I was in eighth grade, I decided to try out for our high school’s track team. Though I never ran well, our team was second in the state, so I learned quite a lot about running a race. In this first scripture we discover that in order to run well, we must be patient. Even a sprint isn’t won or lost in the first couple of steps. For long distance runners, it is vital to set the right pace. It is common for rookie runners to burn out during the first few laps, because they are setting too fast a pace and aren’t running their race. The Bible says we must be patient to run the race that God sets before us. Trying to run our race at someone else’s pace is sure to leave us exhausted, discouraged and defeated.

Secondly, Run with all your strength – I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Philippians 3:14 NLT

On the first day of practice, our coach liked to challenge us to a long-distance run, just to see who would stick with it and who would drop out. Some of the guys, were throwing up in the locker room afterwards, a few of us stumbled near the end and many of us pulled up with leg cramps before the end of the 2 ½ mile course. Coach didn’t care yet who was fast or slow. What he was looking for is who would quit and who would press on. At the start of our Christian life, God often allows us to have some nice easy laps so we can get warmed up. But as the Christian race progresses, so do the difficulties. Paul tells another church that he was shipwrecked, beaten with rods, stoned, and then thrown into prison, and that was just for starters! It took all of Paul’ strength to keep going, but he did so because he had his eyes on the prize that God was keeping reserved in heaven for him. If we are going to be on God’s team, we may have different challenges than Paul, but we will all be asked to give our best, and run with all our strength, until the very end.

Near the end of his life, Paul wrote to his young friend Timothy: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. 2 Timothy 4:7 NLT

As Paul awaited execution, he didn’t complain, or cast blame for his situation on others. Instead he told Timothy plainly, “I have finished the race.” Paul had run every mile that God had set before him. He had patiently kept up the pace, he had given it all the strength that he had and now he knew that something far better lay in store beyond the finish line. When we ran, there was always a tape stretched across the finish line, and our coach used to tell us, “Run through, not to the tape. Don’t give up, no matter what keep going, because your prize in Jesus Christ, lies a just few steps beyond the finish line!