Running Into Relationship

I am finding more often than not that God speaks to me through analogies(for lack of a better word). Today when I got home from my run an idea(whether God-sent or not I'm not sure) popped into my head. I have been trying to figure out how to get it from my brain and into words all afternoon. And I finally decided to just give it a shot. Now before I say anything else I must say this should not be taken as Truth-I'm sure none of you would but I am just letting you know that I am aware that these are my own thoughts, by no means is it biblical. Its just a thought I wanted to share with you.

When I finished my run this morning I was very sore; each step was a struggle. I know was so sore because I also ran yesterday, and until then the last time I ran was almost a month ago. Anyways...as I fought to simply walk around the house I began to think..."maybe this soreness and running in general can parallel our relationship with Christ." Allow me to explain.

Everyone knows that when we run for the first time in awhile or for the first time ever, it is likely we will be sore afterwards. Sometimes the pain even occurs during the run. On those first few runs pain surges through our body. As our legs power forward stride after stride our muscles begin to tighten and ache. Every pounding step hurts our feet. But the more we exercise the easier it gets. In fact, we have to start making our workouts more difficult. In order to get that same burning feeling we had on the first run we have to go further, run faster, push harder. We have to start adding elements that will continue to challenge us: hills, longer distance, sprints. Whatever it is, it has to be "new" to build more muscle and make us better than we were on the previous run. We have to do this because as we build endurance and strength we stop becoming sore, which means our bodies have stopped breaking down our muscles in order to build them back up even stronger.

Is it fair to say the more we run the better we get at it? Is it true that the more we do it the more we know about it? We become educated on the subject. Every time we complete a run we know a little bit more about how to get the best out of each workout and how our body operates under a number of circumstances. We figure out what shoes best fit our feet, what type of clothes are needed depending on the weather. Is it safe to say we are on a constant uphill climb when it comes to running?

Here is when running and God intersect in my mind...

Isn't our relationship with Him the same as running? At first it can be hard-even painful-to come before the Creator of all things and open up our hearts to Him. It's even more difficult to surrender our hearts and give Him our lives. I think we struggle with this because we don't want Him to see all of our mistakes, faults, sin and quite honestly- all the ugliness inside of us. We try so hard to hide all of these things from the world but once we decide to ask Jesus into our hearts we have to lay it all out in front of Him, so that He can get rid of it. But it's hard to make that first step. Just like running can be hard to get motivated.

I believe He breaks us down so that He can build us back up in His love and truth, and it makes us sore. But- back to running- the more time we spend with Him and get to know God for real the deeper into His Word we must dig in order to continue to grow and get stronger. We have to go deeper, pray more and be challenged. So we press further into Him to fuel our burning passion that is our life in Christ.

Personally, the more I run the more it becomes "addictive" I actually start to need it in order to properly function and it is even more like that in my relationship with My Savior. The more I read His Word and pray and worship and just talk about Him the more I want and need to do it. Its what keeps me moving.

When I grow weak or tired during while running I usually have several options: drink water to keep me hydrated, suck down some GU for electrolytes, take in a deep breath and slow down or just quit. My run with God also gives me many options when I get weak and exhausted: drink in the Living water which is Christ himself-for I will never thirst again, read scripture for encouragement and pray and have others pray for me (electrolytes-help keep me going), take a deep breath and ask Him to help me-for in Him I will find rest, and lastly-give in the world's will for my life and just give up. I don't know about you-but the last one, although tempting at times, not worth it in the least. No one wants to start a race and not finish it.

In the running world there is always another race, another hill, a further distance. We will never be able to run every race or run every mile. Running is something we have to keep working on and constantly push ourselves. Much like it is impossible for us to run every inch of the earth it is impossible for us to know God perfectly, but the more we run the closer we get to covering all those inches and the more we take our relationship with God seriously and actively pursue Him the more we get to know Him and all He has planned for us. So ultimately we must keep running.