i shall run the way of your commandments ...

running offers itself up to so many spiritual and life applications. it’s no accident that the Christian life is compared to running a race multiple times throughout the Bible. i also find it is one of the best ways to clear my head, recenter, and hear from God. last thursday morning, i found myself in an increasingly unhealthy frame of mind, so headed out on a long run in the hopes of gaining some perspective before i was done.

i was staying down in spring hill, so planned on running the 9-mile route a friend used. she mapped it out for me, and while i was not familiar with all the roads to which she referred, i had a general feel for the area, and trusted her not to lead me astray. i tucked the hand-drawn map in my pocket, wrote down the step-by-step directions on my palm and headed out around 12pm.

now, i hadn’t had the greatest breakfast, and definitely had not had as much water as i should have at that point in the day, especially before going out on a long, hot run. it was about 80 degrees and sunny, but for whatever reason, i thought i would be fine without taking any water or fuel with me. the first 3 miles were BRUTAL, with several hills that had me thinking ‘are you serious?!’ as they came into view. but I was in a good stride with my ipod and feeling pretty good, all things considered.



but somewhere between miles 3 and 6, things made a turn for the worse. i was exhausted and my body started breaking down. i approached the base of yet another hill with despair, and was SO thankful to discover that my next turnoff came just before. my friend told me that the last long stretch was nice and flat, and it was for a while, but then a hill came into view and i thought this couldn’t possibly be right. the whole way i had been so impressed by how accurate her directions had been. but when i came up on a subdivision before the hill, i thought that maybe she had gotten the street name wrong, or at least that it would connect with my subdivision of destination because it had the same kind of sign. i was wrong. i’m not sure how far i went before stopping to ask for directions, but learning that i could not get there from here, made my way back to the main road. so, not only did i add extra distance, but i still had to face the dreadful hill ... which was actually not as bad as it had looked from afar. the right subdivision was just a little ways beyond that, and after a few more turns, the run i thought would never end finally did. it took me much longer, however, to recover - the heat, fatigue, and dehydration lingering for days.

what’s the point of all this, you ask. well, God is so faithful to meet those who seek after Him, and after my little detour, He started speaking to me about how my situation also applies to life. trials in the Christian walk (or run) are not so much an if as a when. the good news is, God has equipped us with everything we need to get through them - we may be hot, tired and sweaty, but we will be stronger for having endured. He has provided Jesus, our bread (john 6:51) and water (john 4:13-14) to give us nourishment and energy. the trick, of course, is that we are actually eating and drinking enough, both beforehand to prepare us, and during to sustain us. the trials will be much longer and more difficult if we do not rely on our source of strength. He has provided us with the Word as a roadmap for our journey (psalm 119:105). we may not be familiar with the ways that He asks us to take, but with His promises tucked in our back pocket, and His instructions written on our hands, we can trust Him not to lead us astray. when He has a 100% track record of faithfulness, it’s amazing that we would ever question the plans He has laid out for us. and yet, when faced with another hill, how quick we are to think that we know better and start looking for a shortcut. “you were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth?” (gal. 5:7). in the end, we’ve only made our journey longer and we still have to go over the hill we were trying to avoid in the first place. thankfully, sometimes when we see those hills in the distance, we are actually not meant to go over them, which is why we’ve been commanded not to worry about anything but our present circumstances (matt. 6:34). when that’s not the case, it seems that the hills are never quite as bad as they look. maybe it’s the act of digging in and taking it step-by-step, or maybe it’s just perspective, but often we find that our destination - our rest - is just on the other side of the thing we fought so hard to avoid.

so, lesson learned. whether physically or spiritually, the torturous journey and recovery are simply not worth heading out unprepared and not sticking to the route that has been laid out for me.

“i shall run the way of Your commandments. for you will enlarge my heart.”
psalm 119:32