Run Your Race

I know I said I'd be posting reruns while I'm writing the Bible study, but what I didn't think about was that I have awesome friends who are incredible writers. So instead of Evergreen posts, the blog will have guest writers through June. Our first is from one of my favorite friends, Hannah Clements. This girl is my personal minister and she speaks to my heart so eloquently.

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If you are in education or have kids in school, you know the race of the year is almost over. Things are winding down and stress levels are winding up. End of year testing is in the midst and final lessons are being taught. All the while, middle school students revert to kindergarten behavior and teachers nearly lose their minds.

Personally, I nearly thought about quitting - not finishing the race strong but just strolling through just to get by. I lost my caring and listening ear and truly didn't care if she called him a chicken nugget and he called her a tooth pick. (This happened, friends. Middle schoolers in May.)

But then my own motivational talk to a classroom pierced my own tired human heart. “Imagine I am running a race, does it make sense to stop running and stroll to the finish line when I can see it in sight? To start walking when the end is near after you ran your fastest and hardest the other part of the race?” I asked a classroom on middle schoolers with glazed eyes. “No! Of course not! If you were running a race, it is the end where you scrounge up every last bit of energy and run faster and harder than ever before to cross the finish line."

Then I remembered for about a week, I stopped running and started strolling. I gave up. The stress and drama won. But oh how I want my students to finish strongly, to hang in there and to not give up (in this race and in their next) and oh how I can't give up on my own beautiful, sometimes difficult race.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.” - Hebrews 12:1

Jesus has called us to run the race that is set before us to the very end. Not to just meander through but to RUN. To love even when it is hard and they are not lovely. To give grace when grace has already been given 180 times before. To speak with kindness when the spoken words feel like they are on repeat. To carry joy like a banner even when our banner is worn.

Friends, we are surrounded by witnesses. Sometimes those witnesses fill our classrooms or our homes and are watching our every move. Let us strip off the things that slow us down - our bad attitudes, complaints, short temper, and carelessness and let Jesus replace those with His goodness for they are watching us.

Teachers, parents, believers, our race isn't to just make it through. Whatever your race may be it is one of great purpose. Purpose with each step of the way. RUN it as if you were doing it for Him.

Oh Lord, this race is long and I have grown weary. Renew my strength and replace the things that slow me down with joy and righteousness. Thank you for this beautiful race. May I seek your face and see your glory each step of the way.

Amen.

But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength.They will soar high on wings like eagles.They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31

In It to Win It

During the school year I will often ask my class, "Who's in it to win it today?!" And when one of them participates, answers questions, and works hard I will yell out, "Yeah! T.J. (or whoever) is in it to win it!"

They love this.

After I make this exclamation about T.J. (or whoever) you will see hands shooting up left and right because, by golly, everyone wants to be in it to win it!

I love this.

As an adult, I like to think I'm "in it to win it." I strive for success in my career, in my writing, in motherhood and as a wife. I cannot falter in any of these areas because they are of critical importance. I mean, I can't fail as a teacher - that's my profession! I can't fail as a mother - yeesh. Who wants to mess up their kids?!

But am I in it to win it when it comes to Jesus?

1 Corinthians 9:24-27, The Message version says this:

24-25 You’ve all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You’re after one that’s gold eternally.

26-27 I don’t know about you, but I’m running hard for the finish line. I’m giving it everything I’ve got. No sloppy living for me! I’m staying alert and in top condition. I’m not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself.

Do I live out my faith like I'm in it to win it? Do I see heaven as a prize that is worthy of a strong run? Do I see an eternity with Jesus worth a marathon that will require training, injury, and pushing myself to the limits?

My sweet friend, Sumer, is a runner and she wrote about her training several days ago:

So many people don't understand running, why people want to run, or when it gets "easier." I have only been running for a little over a year now, so I still have a lot to learn, but I do know that every day is different. A run today can feel completely different as the exact same mileage and pace tomorrow.  I am thankful to have the opportunity to run in the mornings now, but today was brutal. It's hot. It's unbearably humid. My body is sore from Pilates and yoga this week. I'm attempting some new running techniques that don't feel normal yet. Whatever the reason... Today was not a good run. I am usually pretty good at pushing myself on a run, but today I had nothing left to give. I can't remember the last time I've wanted to stop and walk as badly as I did today. But I didn't. I kept going, even when I thought I couldn't go any further. I only went six miles, but I know that tomorrow is a new day. I will lace up again to prove to myself that today will not define me. I will continue to push and I will continue to surprise myself... Through the good and the bad runs. If there is one thing I've learned, it's that runners never quit. 

The same can be said for our race as Christians, right? Some days are easy, the conditions are just right. We sail through the day with happiness in our hearts and birds chirping. We're like Snow White in sneakers. We love Jesus!

But then...there are other days. It hot, it's unbearably humid. We're sore from the stress of work and kids and problems. And we don't run as well that day. We don't even want to lace up our shoes and feel like being just another runner somewhere in the back of the pack. 

What Sumer says about these kinds of physical-running days should be encouragement for these kind of spiritual-running days: "I kept going, even when I thought I couldn't go any further....Runners never quit."

Runners, in their race for heaven, can't quit. Hebrews 12:1-3 says, 

"Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!"

This Jesus-follower thing can be hard. Society calls us bigots, hypocrites, and delusional. Am I running every day to prove them wrong? Am I running to bring glory to His Precious Name? To serve as a witness to a world that is dying and in need of Him? Do I give Him my best even when I'm sore and out of breath?

Today I will go forward, running at a steady pace in order to claim my prize: Him. I am running for Jesus. I will fix my eyes on Him, the Author and Perfecter of my faith. Knowing He is worthy of a well run race. Hoping He will one day look at me and say, "Beloved! Well done, runner...

You were in it to win it."

Lord, may it be so.