THE Painful Run

Today I went for a run. The first few minutes were filled with ecstasy, but then my right knee began to hurt. I pushed through the pain and kept running. It continued hurting the whole time, but I knew my limit. I knew I could push through the pain. I knew how fast to go even though at times it was not pleasant. I did not give up.

Right when my knee began to hurt, I was reminded of my Lord Jesus Christ. And I was reminded of what the apostle Paul wrote on multiple occasions concerning our relationship with God. Essentially, he tells us we need to run the race with endurance; we need to beat our bodies and make them our slaves; we need to press through the hard times; we have a companion with us in the midst of our suffering.

The entire time I was in pain, the only thing I could think of was pressing through – not the run, but pressing through in my relationship with Christ. The run was simply a reflection; the run was a spiritual exercise. I did not expect this to happen when I left the house this morning, but it did. God went running with me. I needed to be reminded of this today.

There are too many times when I stop running and start walking or even worse just strait out lay down in the middle of the road when I am confronted with my sinfulness (disclaimer: I have never laid down in the road while running). I need to keep running strong in the middle of the hard times. It is far too simple to give up. It is hard to keep going strong because it is painful.

When I finished running, I felt good. I knew I had not given up. I want to say the same about my relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit when I conclude this life hear on earth. I want to be able to say with confidence that I knew I had not given up. And I want to hear the words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” I desire nothing more.

I gave this post the definite article “THE Painful Run” because I need to remind myself that our spiritual journey with Christ, though amazing, is extremely painful because it makes us confront ourselves. Without Christ, we are filled with nothing more than death and corruption. Christ died on our behalf and has given us life and incorruption – he has undone what we did to ourselves. But it requires living in a process, the process of having life and incorruption requires dying with Christ. That is the only way we can be resurrected from the dead and clothe ourselves with him. His blood which covers us makes us white as snow.

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