When God wants you to understand an important biblical truth, He often uses illustrations from nature or everyday life that everyone can relate to. For instance, when discussing the Christian life, the Bible compares it to a race that one must run to win. 1 Corinthians 9:24 says, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.”
Whether you watch, participate in, or support the Olympic Games, we all have a basic understanding of what running involves. You cannot win a 100-meter race by walking or jogging to the finish line; you need to run at a higher speed to succeed in that kind of race. The Bible instructs us not to walk or jog in the Christian life but to RUN!
Running the Christian race is essential if we want to win. It’s much easier to walk while carrying bags in your hands than to run with them. The Christian race involves freeing ourselves from all burdens and baggage, which is why we are advised to run rather than walk. God does not want us to carry any extra weight, so He urges us to RUN!
Walking may be safer than running, as it carries a lower risk of injury. If there were no challenges or dangers to face, God might have instructed us to walk. However, God calls us to run because the Christian life is full of obstacles. You will encounter difficulties and hardships along the way. Yet, you must keep running; you need to endure, persevere, and not give up until you reach the finish line. As you continue to run and persevere, God will protect you from the dangers ahead and shield you from anything that may try to harm you.
Hebrews 12:2 reminds us that, “Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Each of us has a race that God has designated for our lives. It’s essential to discover and run your own race rather than trying to run someone else’s.
In athletics, competitors must start and finish within their assigned lanes. Running outside your lane can lead to disqualification. Similarly, in the Christian race, anyone who wants to run and succeed must stay within the lane that God has set for them. This means following God’s plan for your life and becoming the person He has destined you to be. Avoid the temptation to cross lanes or copy others; focus on your own journey.
There will be moments in our lives when we need to approach challenges as if we are in a marathon, requiring endurance and long-term commitment. Conversely, there will be times when we need to act with urgency, as if we are in a sprint. God’s timing and purpose vary for each person; while one individual may feel they are in a marathon-like situation, another might be experiencing a sprint.
The danger of comparison is that if you fixate on someone running a sprint, you might feel tempted to switch to their pace, believing that progress is happening faster for them. However, if God has marked out a marathon for you, stepping into the sprint lane can lead to exhaustion, burnout, and frustration, as you exert more energy than necessary without seeing the results you desire. Focus on the path that God has laid out for you.
Consider marriage as an example. For one person, the right time to get married may be at the age of 24, while for another, it might be better to wait until 38. This difference may not necessarily be linked to external factors like demons or ancestral powers; it could simply be a matter of maturity. Just because two people are the same age doesn’t mean they are at the same level of maturity. You might have encountered 24-year-olds who think and act like they are 38, while there are 38-year-olds who behave like they are still 24.
For the person who marries at 24, their journey might resemble a quick sprint. In contrast, for someone who marries at 38, it’s more akin to running a middle-distance race. The reason behind this could be that, in His sovereignty, God understood that if the 38-year-old woman had married at 24, her marriage would have likely ended in two years. At that age, she may not have had the maturity required and could have still held onto a fairy-tale perspective of marriage. God needed time to work on her mindset and prepare her for a lasting marriage.
We must be careful not to rush ahead of God or to compare our journey with someone else’s. This is the key to running and succeeding in the Christian race.
Follow God’s plan and purpose for your life by running with the abilities, grace, and gifts He has given you, rather than comparing yourself to what He has given to others. Focus on God’s timing instead of your own, and stay determined to complete your own race, not someone else’s.
PHOTO CREDIT: google
