That was really cool! They were so sweet...and encouraging. Not every race will be as 'fun' at this one. So, now I may have more accurate expectations of races to come!
So this race is the "Color Vibe" and it's all across the country from my understanding, and when we showed up to thousands of runners, I was shocked. This race wasn't timed, and when I found that out I was so bummed. I've been trying to get in shape for weeks because all I wanted this older body of mine to do was to run the 5k in under 30 minutes. That may not seem like a huge deal to some, but that's what I wanted to do. They were herding people towards the start line. There was no order, just get in the big massive group of people and go. So, our little group of seven started inching towards the front of the crowd. We were able to start the race with the third group of people. We started out and I ran at my own pace and by myself. That is one of the things I like most about running.
The solitude.
Because it's never just me. It's always the Lord and I. To me running is a concentrated time of focus and prayer. It's an ongoing and open conversation with God. Sometimes it's interceding for others, sometimes it's asking for strength to make the next mile. Whatever it is, to me it is very precious time with the Lord. I expect to hear from God when I'm running.
Running for me is a bit like 'active waiting.' I'm reading this amazing book, "Broken-Down House"
and I was reading the chapter about waiting, it reminded me so much of how the Lord uses running in my life.
"Waiting is more than being patient as situations and other people change. Waiting is about understanding that you and I desperately need to change and that waiting is a powerful tool of personal change." Paul Tripp.
Just as the ladies in my moms running club and I showed up to thousands of runners and had to wait in a really large crowd to start our race...we had a choice how to use our wait. While we waited we could have complained, or pushed our way to the front as if we were more important than all the other people or as we did we just waited in line, talking amongst ourselves and with other runners. We chose to enjoy the wait.
Choosing to enjoy the wait is NOT easy. It's not. We are impatient people. We often know what we want and when we want it (like now...or really yesterday). But God. He gives us time to wait. In fact at every given moment in our lives we will be waiting for something.
Waiting for our child to get potty trained. Waiting for a promotion at work. Waiting for that publisher to decide whether they will publish a proposal. Waiting to hear a loved one say "yes" to Jesus. Waiting for healing. And on and on it goes. We will wait.
Why are we so surprised when we are expected to wait? At times, we can all act as if we are too good to wait. The Lord Jesus even waited while here on earth. In Luke we read that He grew up, and while he was a child he willingly submitted Himself to His earthly parents. Being fully God, He could have started His public ministry at any age...and yet He waited until the age of thirty.
I can not say this better than Paul Tripp, "Waiting is one of God's most powerful tools of grace. God doesn't just give us grace for the wait. The wait itself if a gift of grace."
So, this challenge is for me as much as for you, how are you using your waiting time? Are you waiting like you do impatiently in line for food or at the return desk of a retailer...consumed with all around you inwardly complaining about how long the wait it. Or are you waiting like at a doctors office...just wasting the time flipping through the 'magazines' of the world to 'kill' time?
Or is yours the 'active waiting' I mentioned earlier. Are you using your wait-time to as we are told Jesus did. Luke 2:52, "And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man."
Here are a few things I ask God while I'm waiting in various situations
God...what do you want me to learn in this time frame right now?
Lord, is there someone I need to be sharing You with right now?
God, grant me eyes to see those around me the way You do!
I promise...you ask God questions like that, you will hear from Him. Sometimes you will not be given step by step directions, but He will make it clear where you need to move to serve Him.
"Waiting means understanding that you were given life and breath for the glory of another. Waiting gives you the opportunity to forsake the delusion of your own glory and rest in the God of awesome glory." Paul Tripp
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