Made to Run.

The highlight of high school was my cross country and track teams.  We were all best friends, had great coaches, and had the best team comradery I have ever seen.  I loved running with these girls.  Hold on, that needed caps.  I LOVED running with these girls. We pushed each other, but we weren't competitive with each other.  We ran as a pack, encouraging each other even during the races.  And we were fast.  

At certain times of the year, I swear I can still smell cross country and track season.  It takes me back to the determination before meets, the focus I had, the seriousness of the race for me. And for a brief moment I think I could just take off and run two back to back 6:00 minute miles.  

This was me before a race.


Actually, this is more like it:

Bahahahahahahaha.  

*Sigh…….anyway.  

 Although my mile times have changed, a bit, a lot, whenever I read this verse it puts me back on that hot, black track at Ballard High School.

Hebrews 12:1 says,
"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us."

If you are a Christian, if you have accepted Jesus' love and made him your Lord, then you are meant to be running a spiritual race. But I know that, at times, we find ourselves on this proverbial track, at the starting line, sitting on our tush.  And we just can't seem to get ourselves up and moving! We just can't seem to make a movement, as if we are paralyzed.  I know that sometimes it's fear, like I talked about here.  But, according to God's word in Hebrews 12, there are other reasons why we might feel slow, or immovable. 

Check out the second part of verse 1 in two different translations: 
"let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles." NIV  
"let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely" ESV

If you are feeling unmotivated, or sluggish, towards Jesus and this race He created for you, maybe you need to take a look at what could be weighing you down, or tripping you up.

I'm not talking about literal weight, I'm sure you caught onto that. But Hebrews says that, along our Christian race, there are encumbrances and sins that slow us down.  There are weights that trip up our feet, and hinder us from the race Jesus has for us.

 When I was a teenager, my constant struggle was vanity.  I was obsessed with my body.  I wanted so badly to be pretty, and skinny. I knew that God loved me, and I knew without a doubt that he had me on the track to run for Him. I wanted to tell others about His love.  But Satan knew my weakness, and he would throw the distraction of my body and my weight at me, and it would distract me from running my race.  

Now, 10 years later, standing in the same love and purpose of God, I want so badly to run unhindered for Jesus! I pop out of bed in the morning with motivation and excitement to get out there and tell everyone that God's love changes everything!  And so I sprint off into Denver, or cyberspace, or youth group, but I start worrying what people think about me.  I start comparing myself to the other women around me.  and SMACK. I find myself tripped up, facedown, on the track of life. 

Ever been there? (Somebody say yes, please.)

What is it for you?

Is vanity hanging onto your ankles?  

Do you have a growing list of enemies and hatred or anger could be hindering your ability to run for Jesus?

Are you trying to run two races at once--the race for Jesus, but then the race for popularity or a boyfriend? (It's kinda impossible to run two races at once, huh?)

If you are a daughter of God, He has placed you on the track and He has a race for you.  When we understand how loved we are, and what great purposes He has for us, we MOVE! We run the race of faith, with our eyes fixed on our coach and motivator, Jesus. 

Because he ran the race too.  With YOU in mind, Jesus left heaven, and came to earth. He knew that he would be rejected, doubted, and ridiculed.  But with YOU in mind, He came anyway.  He came and He served. He pointed to God and He made a bridge between sinful us and Holy God. With your face in his mind's eye, He laid down his own life, allowed himself to look like a fool, was beaten, and He became that bridge for us.  

That was his race.  He knew the joy on the other side of obedience, he knew their would be joy at the finish line.  So he ran his race, he endured it. He endured being shamed, he ran through curses, and hostility, and loneliness.  He ran his race.  For you, sister. 

Because He loved you.

And because of that, we can run, girls!  We can run our race! Let's throw off everything that slows us down---comparing ourselves, gossip, and vanity.  Let's strip down to our running gear.  Let's clear the track of distractions---popularity, boys that distract from Jesus, or perfection.  And let's move.

On your mark….get set…. 


 

Let's Fight: Fighting the Good Battles as a Teenage Girl.

My mind and heart are full of you today.  I think of you, dredging through the hallways of your high school or middle school, as if they were trenches on a battle field.

I know that you are fighting a battle on every front.  There are battles for your heart, for your soul, and for your mind at every turn.

I know that there are battles on the outside.  The battle of school and sports and work press in on you, weighing you down and replacing your joy with anxiety.  There is the ongoing fight with Mom or Dad about your attitude, the drama and cat fights with your semi-friends, the annoyance of siblings or coworkers.

Yet, the battles within seem to be an even great duel.

You know that you are supposed to stand on God's promises, to stand in His love, (much less to make a difference in your world), but the knocks and blows of peer pressure or distraction just keep you down.

You hear that Jesus loves you, that He is with you, but when another semester has started and you continue to fight a silent loneliness, depression, or apathy, it's hard to remember His love, right?

Maybe your battle is just fear of a fight.  You don't believe you have the courage to fight this world's temptations, your own thoughts, or the lies that have made a home in your head.  And so you turn, 360 degrees, nervous and trembling, believing that if you did actually fight on any of these fronts, that you would immediately fail.

Maybe 2014 has began with guilt from a year of failure. You know you lost more battles than you won last year.  You lost to lust, vanity, selfishness, and comfort.  Perhaps you are face-down in the mud because of the weight of your failure.   You know how you are supposed to act, but for the life of you, you can't seem to win the battle over your own sins. (I'm with you girls.)

Maybe God has recently awakened your heart to not only His love for you, but His purpose for you.  And now that you have found yourself fully employed in the Kingdom of God, your heart is pumping with excitement and dreams and a willingness to do whatever God asks.  But right on the heels of a great work of God is the opposition from the world.  And you are fighting daily--fighting to believe in God's strength, fighting to be understood, fighting to complete the mission God has called you to.

Or, perhaps your fight is against an inner disease.  A disease of the heart--doubt, anxiety, isolation.  I know many of you look in the mirror and misunderstand what is looking back at you.  You see a girl, maybe too fat, or too flat, or too plain.  You see a girl, maybe too rebellious or too weak or too insignificant to even engage in a battle.  You are so unsure of yourself that you believe it would be best to not fight at all, just to throw your hands up in the air and not fight these battles of a daughter of God.

Girls, do you know what God sees in that mirror?

Yes, he sees you as beautiful and unique.  But there is more to it, an identity with way more depth than just being attractive! God sees a fighter!  God sees His daughter, that he loves very personally, a daughter that he treasures and understands!  And He comes next to you, in front of that mirror, and he says:

"Daughter, we got this. I know the battles are many, and long.  You feel tired, or defeated, or guilty.  But we got this.  I am here, with you.  So be strong and courageous! I'm going to fight for you, daughter, because I love you more than your imagination could even dream up.  So let's do this--take on 2014 with my promises, with your identity based on how I see you.  You will not fail when you fight with me, and for me.  I have plans for you, plans for you to fully jump into a life of purpose and adventure, plans for you to change this world. You are not alone, I hear you and see you.  So be strong, in my love.  Be courageous, I built you to be a fighter."

Girls, God made us to be victorious, to be conquerers.  I know that, as girls, it's often just easier to not fight.  To just take the easier road, go with the flow, just live with a poor self-esteem rather than fighting the lies.  It's easier, at times, to chose the mundane routine of adolescence, rather than jump into the battle and adventure of God's calling.

But when we fight the good fight, when we fight to discover who we are in Christ, and we fight to be all His love has called us to be, we find a satisfaction and joy that can't be defeated.

I'm praying this for you today. You are adored by our God.
So go kick butt.

1 Chronicles 28:20
"Then David said to his son Solomon, "Be strong and courageous, and act; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord God, my God, is with you.  He will not fail you nor forsake you until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished."

Exodus 14:14
"The Lord will fight for you, you need only be still."