Running the Race

When I was seven, I broke my left arm.

That isn’t necessarily bad, except we were learning to write in school and I was left handed. For a few years following, I was ambidextrous, but when it came to anything with a ball or balance, I was a mess. What am I saying… I still am! I remember trying to do a cartwheel all through school. I’d tumble on my head every time. Until I discovered that I was a left-handed cartwheeler instead of right. When Ken and I hosted a Young Adult Table group, we were invited to play in a soccer game because their team was short of players. I thought, “Why not?” After the game, one of the guys came up to me and said “Great job! Did you see what happened when you opened your eyes when the ball came to you - you actually kicked it once!” Needless to say, I’m just not cut out for soccer.

So fast forward to about 20 years ago. I have a friend that was an avid race walker. And since our husbands had been running in half-marathons, she invited me to do the Silver Strand Half race-walking. I thought, “How hard can racewalking be?” Believe me, it’s hard!

In Philippians 3, Paul reminds the readers of how entrenched he had been in religion as a Jew, a Pharisee, a persecutor of Christians. But after his Damascus Road encounter with Jesus, he considered that all loss for the gain of knowing Jesus. If you read the entire third chapter, you get a picture of how deeply he loved Jesus. Today, I want to spend our time on verses 10-14:

“I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

- Philippians 3:10-14

Paul is talking about running a marathon - not a sprint. When we run a sprint and we slip and fall, we often have to wait for the next one to start over. But when I think about a marathon, I think about endurance, pacing myself, maybe going slower in some miles, but making up for it in the others.

When I went into training for that half-marathon, I fell multiple times. Despite scraped knees and bruised elbows, I kept training. The day of the marathon came and we arrived at the Strand at 0-dark hundred. Talk about being nervous. I felt like I was hyperventilating. I couldn’t do this. I’m not athletic, I can’t. All the tapes that the enemy loves to play!

But my friend, Debbie, was right there beside me. The gun went off, and the race started. I have to be honest, about half way in I was feeling like I was hitting a wall. Could I do this? But Deb’s encouragement kept me going. Not near the front of the pack, more likely one of the last to finish, but I did. The rush of adrenaline, tears, excitement, and accomplishment I still remember. I’d gone into training, and yes, there were bumps and bruises from falls. But I also finished the race and got the medal!

Isn’t that like our marathon of life with Christ? We want to know Christ more intimately. We have to stop dwelling on our failures, confess the sins of our past, pick ourselves up and strain ahead toward the goal!  

We do that by having accountability, reading the scriptures, praying and being with other believers in community, participating in worship, being a good neighbor, falling more in love with Jesus and being grateful for His sacrifice!

Let’s press on toward the goal to win the prize that Christ has called us to!

Pastor Pam

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