For most of you, you may not have known me when I
was younger, but I came from a very athletic family. Most of us still like to
engage in athletic endeavors and push ourselves. While I was attending
Pepperdine University I learned that running wasn't an awful agonizing exercise
that is only intended to help you perform better in sports, but it could be an
amazing stress reliever as well. So I took up running and it started slow but by
the end of the year I was running close to 45 miles a week. The crazy thing
about that is no one was yelling at me to get out there and run, I actually
enjoyed it. My junior year however I blew my knee out, and I couldn't do what I
once loved. Sure I would go out and jog a bit but instead of feeling free and
soaking up the sun and the breeze, all I could think about was the pain
shooting up my leg. Now about 9 years later with my knee probably worse then
ever (according to my doctors), I decided to run again. It started off with a 3-mile
walk jog with my daughter in the stroller, and now I am back to running three
days a week 7 miles at a time. When I am out there I feel the same joy and
release I did before. I get to think about all the amazing blessings God has
given me. For the longest I told myself that I couldn't do it anymore I couldn't push myself because of my physical limitations , but what I know now is that I
just had to adjust it.
Have you felt this way about your
faith also, you found out that prayer, reading your bible, serving others, weren't something that just helped you to be a better Christian it was actually
something that made you a Christian. You felt the joy of God within you and you
loved it and you did it often, but then something happened. For me in my
running it was a blown out knee, maybe in your faith it was a loss of a loved
one, or a shaky marriage or you just got older, maybe someone at church hurt
your feelings, whatever it is you stopped. From time to time you went out there
and gave it a go but you didn't enjoy it like you used to instead you just felt
the pain lingering. Today I want to challenge you, challenge you like I have
been challenging myself, get back out there on the track, you don't have to run
at the same pace you used to just get out there and run. Pretty soon all of the
emotions comeback your joy gets reinstated and you become filled with that same
grace and love that comes only from Christ.
My last run I went on was yesterday, I decided to
take my two young ones with me and I would run while pushing them in their
stroller. This was a difficult run and my goal was 7 miles, I knew that having
them with me I probably wouldn't make it that far before they pooped out on me.
However I was presently surprised at not only how good they were but they were
my biggest inspiration, to see them smile and enjoy it reminded me of why I
like to run. The same is with our faith the youthfulness of others can inspire
us to remember why we love serving Christ and enjoy being in his presence. So
today get back on the track and fin your way back into the joy of Christ, it
may hurt at first but once you get back into it you will remember that the pain
in temporary the joy is forever!
