race pace

training for a half marathon with the rest of the RAs in the dorm i live in. and well, it has made me realize that our life really is like a race. when we try to set the pace and go faster than God intended, we end up struggling, getting tired, and either having to stop or slow down. plus, we try to do it without Him, and believe me that just does not work. when we take things at His pace we are blessed by going with the One who has gone before. He knows the way, the twists and turns in the road, and He is the Keeper of Time. He knows what pace we can maintain. He gives us the breath, the endurance to keep fighting. and when we fall behind pace, which we so often do, it is as if He stops and turns around and meets up with us and says "I was wondering where you went." God doesn't leave you behind, in the dust. when He sets the race pace, you will not only cross the finish line, you will run straight into His arms. the place we belong.

but here's another thing. although we train together, in the end, it's our own race. we will not enter Heaven as a cluster. the line to Heaven is single filed."it made me realize that even when everyone is doing the same thing, we all do it differently. some faster, some slower. some with ease, some with great difficulty. but the thing is, you can't compare yourself to how anyone else is doing. what matters is your race, not how everyone else is running it." although others can push us and motivate us to run our race better, and we can run legs of it together, may we never be so caught up in comparison that we find ourselves trying to run in their lane, run their race, live their life.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." -Hebrews 12:1