Tammy On Tuesday ~ Running Alone

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Hebrews 12:1-3

1Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

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Saturday mornings are my long runs.  That’s right.  I’ve signed up for a half-marathon in May and so each week I have to plan on a long run.  I usually try to run with friends.  We don’t necessarily talk while we run together.  I like to listen to music.  But having friends around me seems to make the run more enjoyable.  Just having them along side of me motivates me to keep running and to not give up.  This past Saturday the plan was to run 8 miles.  For different reasons, my running partners were all unable to join me on the run.  On Friday night, I was down to just one companion.  Then I got word that something had come up and she was unable to run with me.

I’ve never run 8 miles and now, if I wanted to, I could put it off another week.  In my mind, I reasoned that maybe I was meant to take a break.  Then the thought came…maybe God wanted me to run it alone.

Early Saturday morning I awoke.  The kids were all away doing different things.  Mark was at a pastor’s conference and I sat there in the quiet of the morning.  I debated as to whether I would attempt the run alone.  I talked to The Lord.  “God, I really want to get out there and do this but it seems unlikely that I can do 8 miles on my own.”  Finally I decided I would go and if it started to get tough, I could just turn around.

While I ran, the road stretched out ahead of me and I felt God whispering to my heart…”Sometimes I like to get you alone.”  I felt God’s presence, His delight.  I talked to Him.  I lifted needs.  I confessed my weakness.  I felt His all-sufficiency.  I had a wonderful time – just God and me.

Running 8 miles alone gives you a lot of time to think.  I couldn’t help likening the run to the past 2-3 years of my life.  Working along side of my husband and other believers in this church plant – much of it, God spent getting me alone.  When it came to security, God stripped away everything so I could rely on Him.   When it came to expectations, God asked me to let go of them.  The time has afforded me important and valuable lessons.  Like my run, in all things, I am realizing He is all I need.

As the passage I am sharing today mentions…“He (Jesus) is the author and perfecter of my faith.”  My life, my happiness, my completeness begins and ends with Him.  Period.

 

James 1:3-4 says,  “knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

 

That’s God’s desire for me.  That’s why He gets me alone.  He is at work perfecting my faith, making me complete so that I lack nothing.  He knows for me to rely on anything but Him will bring disappointment. Don’t get me wrong, running with friends is an added perk.  It feels good to accomplish something together.  But when God requires me to be alone, I can trust that He will be more than enough for me.

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Are people not meeting your expectations?  God is enough.

Is “the church” falling short of all you think it should be?  God is enough.

Are you feeling “left out”?  God is enough.

Are you relying on anything or anyone to fill you up?  God is enough.

Is your life “lacking” in some way?  God is enough.

When I don’t allow God to get me alone, I put myself at risk of relying on people and circumstances for my happiness, my contentment, my peace.  He has faithfully been teaching me to keep my eyes fixed on Him – the author and perfecter of my faith.  He is enough.  And when He becomes my “enough”, I am able to give to others, to encourage my fellow sojourners to keep going and not give up.

Let us run the race with our eyes on the prize.  Let us spur each other on to good works.  Let us run with patience.  Let us not give up.  God is enough.