Running for Jesus

In this past year, I’ve trained for and completed three 1/2 marathons. During this season of training for my fourth in Nashville on April 28, I’ve incorporated more hills. The Lord is using the hills to teach me about living life with Him.

At first I used to walk the hills and then run at the top downhill, with more training I would be able to run half way up the hill and walk the rest. And finally, I would run the whole hill and walk afterwards! I thought that was such an accomplishment until today when I ran 10 miles I had hills all in my run and would run my interval with a hill and continue to run until my interval was complete! I didn’t even think about stopping afterwards because I was focused on completing the run and my body was trained to continue on. That is exactly what we are called to do in our journey with Christ!

The Lord showed me spiritually that in the past I used to look at my hills (which were crisis, adversity, hurt, conflict or strongholds) and I would make slow progress walking up them, often avoiding them. Mostly because I wasn’t training myself how to fight spiritual battles: daily studying in the word, memorizing the Word, putting on the full armor and especially not exercising my prayer life for endurance.

We are to run with perseverance the race marked out for us (Hebrews 12:1b). We are to look at the hills in our life – whatever they are – and train ourselves to not just walk or half way make it or even run the hill and stop to walk; but run the hill and be spiritually fit to keep running hard after Jesus until he calls you home or to a place or season of rest (it may just be a night).

God is faithful to finish the work he starts in His children…but we must be faithful to him by training ourselves everyday to fight the spiritual warfare in our minds, hearts and lives to conquer the hills in our lives which grows and stretches us. My encouragement to you as a fellow believer is to go deeper and further with Jesus just as you would train for a race or competition. When we do, we will truly see Gods amazing power at work in our lives. Get training to get spiritually fit! You are more than a conquerer!