Monday Motivation: Run with Endurance

We have all had to endure change lately, from school closings and sport cancellations to graduation ceremonies postponed. I think the very definition of endurance describes our current situation: “the ability to withstand hardship or adversity, especially the ability to sustain a prolonged stressful effort or activity.” Sound familiar?

Endurance takes strength and determination and finishing strong may be the most difficult thing you’ve ever done.

A few years ago, a friend talked me into running a 5K, which for an asthmatic non-runner like me, was like climbing Mt. Everest. It sounded hard and painful. I began my training on a treadmill. In a controlled environment. If I got hot, I hit the button and the fan turned on. If I didn’t want music, I could turn on TV. That worked great until I went outside. The tiniest incline felt like a mountain range. The heat, the cold, it was all too much for the inhaler to overcome, and so, I ran-walked. In fact, not once during the six-week training did I make it 3.1 miles outside without stopping to catch my breath.

If you’ve ever been in a race or watched one, there’s something about the excitement of the crowd that makes you feel like you’re in the Olympics. On race day, when the buzzer sounded, I took off running, pacing myself, and listening to songs like “Hall of Fame” from The Script. Until I reached the hill. At that moment, something inside me gave in to the pain in my chest and my shaking legs. The words, you’re not going to make it, ran through my head, and I began to walk. There was nothing wrong with walking. In fact, my friend that talked me into doing the race walked the entire time. But I wasn’t here to walk. My goal was to run across the finish line. Everything I had endured for six weeks took less than 30 seconds to fade from view.

Then out of nowhere, a young woman began to run beside me and said, “You can do it. Don’t stop.” As I forced my legs to pick up the pace, we ran together across the finish line! Afterward, I searched everywhere for my new friend, desperate to thank her, but she had disappeared. To this day, I don’t know who she was, but she’s someone I’ll never forget.

We do not have to go through difficult times alone. God runs beside us, cheering us on, and telling us we can do it. “Let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. ² We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.” Hebrews 12:1-2 (NLT)

If you are struggling with life’s ups and down, turn your eyes upward and drop your knees downward, and let God hold you up with His strength. Let Him sustain you. Let God be your endurance.