RUNNING YOUR RACE

Therefore, 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, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith (Hebrews 12:1-2, NIV).

While standing waiting for the race to start at a recent Fun Run, alongside my wife, I was struck by how nervous I was. I had been training, and I knew that I could run the distance, but still I had doubts. As everyone started running, we moved along with the crowd, but it didn’t take long for people to start moving past us. Even though we weren’t all that far from the front of the pack when the race started, within a few hundred metres, I couldn’t see the front runners anymore. The doubts got louder, and I had to fight myself to keep running. 

Before long, I realised that we were running at a steady pace and the number of people passing us had dropped off. We seemed to have found a space in the overall group where we surrounded by others just like us and even found ourselves passing a few people here and there. Halfway through the race, we did a U-turn and started running back towards the Start/Finish line. It was only after this point that I realised just how many people were still behind us. While we weren’t winning the race, we were a long way from coming last. 

After that realisation, we were able to relax and just enjoy what was a great event – truth be told, we were never actually “racing”, we were just there for our own challenge.

It occurred to me afterwards, that this sort of negativity and doubt can creep in to our lives in any area, including school and work. We can become lost in our inward negativity and lose sight of the big picture. When we finally look outwards, we realise that we are surrounded by people who are moving along with us, and we are doing far better than we could have imagined. Better still, put aside the “everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles” and focus on Jesus, we can focus on becoming the person He is calling us to be without fear or anxiety.