Distance.

Hebrews 12:1 – “…let us run with endurance the race that is before us,…”

Ever feel that you’ve gotten more than you bargained for. That you’ve got too much to handle?

Some days I feel like I’ve been training for a spiritual 5k race. It’s only a little over 3 miles, so my endurance doesn’t have to be too great, and it feels like just the amount I can handle. I’ve been preparing for this race for about a month now. I’ve been reading my Bible and praying more, and just all over trying to be the Christian the Lord wants me to be. I thought I was doing well in preparing for this race. I even tried to up my endurance level by talking to more people about spiritual things and attending gospel meetings. I felt confident that I was ready for my 5k, and that it wouldn’t be a problem. That it may even feel easy.

I showed up on race day bright and early and started with a quick warm up before I joined the crowd at the starting line. The gun was shot and the race started, and I took off with a smile on my face. I quickly realized that this wasn’t my race that I had signed up for. God had switched me and signed me up for a marathon. I got to mile marker 3 and immediately started saying “God this isn’t what I signed up for, I finished what I had planned. I want to be done.” God’s immediate reply was “keep going, I have faith in you.” By mile 6 I started to reason with God saying, “Lord, I’ve doubled what I planned to do, isn’t that enough?!” The Lord responded with, “Was it enough that I sent my Son to you and He was ridiculed in return?” I saw God’s point and started to run with a new vigor. I looked at the examples of those running before me, and decided to myself that if they could do it, so could I. I ran several miles without noticing because of how focused I’d become. By now the sun was out, and shining brightly…and it got hot. It didn’t take long before I saw mile marker 12 and started to complain to God saying, “Lord, it’s hot, I’m thirsty, my legs hurt, and I feel like I’m going to pass out…I just can’t take this anymore! I tried Lord.” The Lord’s response to me was this: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. (Mt. 11:28-30)” Well I kept running, but I muttered under my breath about how this wasn’t what I signed up for and how this was anything but a “light burden”. Soon I saw a little stand by the side of the rode passing out cups of water. I slowed down enough to take a quick drink and throw the cup by the wayside, not even paying attention to who handed the cup of water to me.  By mile 16 I saw a couple sitting on the ground cheering loudly for all that passed by, including me. I threw a quick smile to them, but kept on going. I ran for awhile longer wondering why God had signed me up for this race. Didn’t he know I wasn’t prepared for this?! My frustration continued to grow, until I felt a drop of rain on my cheek. I was about to lose it at that point when I heard God say to me, “just a little while longer, you’re almost there. I have faith in you.” Even though I was frustrated, exhausted, and in pain, I continued to push myself forward to the goal.

I only had three more miles to go before I crossed the finish line and I decided I wasn’t going to have come this far only to turn back. I started to run faster, knowing that soon this race would be over. When I saw the finish line in sight, I gave it all I had and sprinted for the Goal. My feet crossed the finish line and I saw God standing there beside me grinning widely and calling out my name. He looked at me and said “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord. (Mt. 25:21)” I looked at God and said “why did you sign me up for the Marathon when you knew I had only prepared for the 5k?” God looked into my eyes and said, “Because I knew you could do it, I had faith in you. I also knew you wouldn’t learn much from the race you had signed up for; you wouldn’t appreciate the final goal. I also knew that if I let you run the race you had planned on, you would only depend on yourself, and never fully depend on Me.” Just then a thought dawned on me and I realized how wrong I had been. I looked up and said “That was You wasn’t it Lord? You were the one that gave me a cup of water; You were the one that sent someone to cheer me along. You were the one to send rain when I complained that it was too hot. You were there all along and I didn’t recognize it! I then realized how blind sighted I had been and fell down to the Lord asking for forgiveness. The Lord pulled me up and said “ yes, that was Me. You asked for help and I provided. Even when you didn’t ask and you complained to me, I still provided.”

I walked further with the Lord realizing how much He had helped me through the race. Not realizing what He had planned for me, because I couldn’t see the whole picture, and the Lord could. That was the day I learned to put all my trust in God and depend on Him fully. He knows best. The Lord took me on a different path that day then I had planned, but I learned so much from it, and was reminded that His thoughts are not my thoughts (Is. 55:8-9), and that God is the only one who can see the whole picture, He knows what He’s doing when He signs you up for a different race than you had planned.

-Ashlyn Barker