Running the Right Race

My dog, Rocky, is something else, let me tell you! I’ve only had him a little over a year, yet I could fill a book with stories about him. From the time he broke into the bathroom to get to my aunt (who happened to be showering and thought he was a murderer…and who hasn’t stayed with us since) to yesterday’s shenanigans of ripping open a new tissue box and taking large chomps out of each tissue, he’s quite the character. He’s got boundless energy…unless he’s napping, in which he would prefer to not be disturbed 🙂

Recently, he’s figured out where our house is in perspective to the other parts of the neighborhood. Take him anywhere, and he can lead you home. In fact, if you try taking him anywhere, he will lead you home. Apparently he believes once around the block is enough exercise for him.

Today, as we were turning the corner and our house was in view, his little legs stretched out as he fast-walked. His tail was in the air, his tongue hanging out, and his eyes fixed on the prize: home. I called out his name a few times, but nothing could distract him. He knew where he was going and nothing could get in his way.

The apostle Paul compares our lives to a race. In multiple letters, he commands us to “run the good race” by following God’s truth, exercising self-control, and most of all, fixing our eyes on the prize. And that prize is eternal, nothing we can even comprehend down here.

It’s easy to get distracted from the prize, life with God, when we are in the world, doing the day-to-day things. Our anxieties, relationships, and work can make us forget that there is more to us than this life. We can feel bogged down by the weight of this world when we see our climate declining, families in desperate situations, and people being discriminated against.

It’s important to fight for justice and help those in need. In fact, Jesus commands us to do just that. However, when it feels like nothing will get better, we must remember that this world is only temporary. We can only do the best we can, and then we have to trust that Jesus knows what He’s doing.

God can seem cruel by allowing evil to take place in the world. But He knows the future. He knows that while there are certainly present suffering, it is nothing in comparison to the wonderful things He has in store for us. We must not blame Him for the bad things that happen, and instead focus on what good He may be bringing from it.

We just have to keep running the good race and remember that God is in control. I believe in you. Don’t give up.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

2 Timothy 4:7

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

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

James 1:12