I ran today for the first time in about a week, due to a slight issue with my ankle. As I had the opportunity to run my favorite nature cove in the mountains, I don’t think crutches could have held me back this morning. Sunlight cut through the branches of the trees overhead, and it was as if I was running through the most magnificent of cathedrals. I love this time to stretch my muscles, absorb the radiance, and breathe the cool breezes of a mountain morning. About a half mile into my run, I heard the thunder of feet behind me. Within seconds, I was surrounded, passed, and left in the dust by a large group of teenage cross country runners, like a stream rushing past a rock. They ran effortlessly, their muscles so fresh, their laughter floating in the air. I appeared to be running in place. But I took great solace in noting that I was probably as old as some of their grandmothers.
Music played on my ipod, but it served only as background music for my thoughts. Running gives me the freedom to think. letting ideas and prayers and solutions rise to the surface, emerging from backburner status to the forefront of my thoughts. Sometimes it is enough just to slide into cruise control, enjoying the scenery. But almost always, something appears on my radar -- a story, a crazy idea, prayer for someone I haven’t thought about for awhile, or a bear or two. And sure enough, about halfway into my run, God put someone on my path. We ran the hills and chatted, a father of four, some of whom were part of that cross country team. Everyone has a story.
And God reminded me today why I run. Because there is always something deeper to what I do. There are other purposes at stake whether I am running, going to an office, or taking care of things at home, a working on my heart or a measure of understanding, an opportunity to encourage or to share the love of Jesus in palpable ways. So, the most profound thing that you do may not be that important presentation you slaved over, but the conversation you had beforehand with someone with a broken spirit. It may not have been that well-executed classroom lesson, but listening to the tears or dreams of a student after class. Scrubbing a floor on my hands and knees may not appear significant at all in the grand scheme of things, but it is the mindset of being willing to do whatever God puts on my plate today, even if that greater purpose is never realized in this lifetime. God is using you.
There is purpose in all things,
deeper than I can comprehend.
I have only
to follow Him into it
and do what is before me
with all my heart
and soul
and mind
and strength.
He takes care of the rest,
those things below the surface
that reverberate throughout eternity.
For I am doing a work in your days,
that you wouldn’t believe, if told.
Habakkuk 1.5
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