Finish The Race
Late last year, entries for the Two Oceans Half Marathon 2015 opened, and I decided to enter. This is quite significant, and to help you understand why, I must return to my high school days.
When I started high school, I needed to pick a sport to participate in. I hadn't done so well with Athletics or Netball in Primary School, so I figured I would give field hockey a chance. I also didn't have much faith in my fitness, especially in my running ability. So when I needed to pick a position, I decided to try out for goalie, because hey, goalies don't need to run around the field the whole time. They get to hang in the back and only need good hand-eye coordination, which I fortunately possessed. And in a nutshell, that’s the mentality I have approached fitness and sport with all my life.
I never really got into fitness or sport, in part because I always thought that I'm not very good at it, but mostly because I never persevered through enough training to actually be able to complete anything.
After giving birth to our first baby girl this time last year, I decided it was time to get in shape again, and that to do so, I needed a goal. The Two Oceans Half Marathon was precisely that. And so, half-way around the world in the cold of the California winter, my training began. What a bumpy road that immediately proved to be, filled with ups and downs. There were so many roadblocks in front of me: bad weather, jet lag, sickness, sleepless nights with our baby; and yet the biggest struggle of all was my own will.
I constantly had to choose to train, and every time I really didn't want to. Boy, would my mind tell me a million excuses to use to simply stay under the covers in bed! I was so tempted every time, and quite a few times I'd embrace the excuses, and yet, I slowly began to overcome my own mind.
One day on a training run, I was already exhausted, with quite a few kilometers to still run, when I felt God whisper a familiar Scripture to my soul: "I can do so much more through Christ who strengthens you." (Philippians 4:13). And so, I repeated that phrase to myself for the entire rest of that run. And what do you know? I finished my training for the day – still exhausted, but complete.
Why am I sharing all this?
Because this has become the most real metaphor for my faith journey in a long time. Becoming a follower of Christ is like training for a race, one that you think you are not capable of completing and constantly need to fight for. Like with my training, I too easily give up in my faith when my mind gives me all the convenient excuses. And the sad part is I end up missing what God has for me because of that.
It was race day last week Saturday, and I finished the 21 KM race in a personal best time! It has renewed my energy to pursue the training needed to finish the race God has set before me.
May you find something that challenges you to train physically, and to see how that helps you train spirituality at the same time!