To the so-called running experts who recommend getting up early in order to beat the heat: running at 5:00 doesn't make it any easier, it just makes it darker. My goal this morning was to get in eleven miles before seven o'clock, which meant waking up around five (I say "around" because the snooze button will inevitably get pushed at least once, much to the chagrin of my husband. Hey, it's on there for a reason). We've been experiencing a heat wave and today promised to be a scorcher, so I figured getting up early would make the odds of me finishing this run and not turning into a puddle increase significantly. Wrong.
As I stepped outside, I was hit by 82 degree air that was the consistency of molasses, and indeed, molasses is what I felt I was running through, if you can call what I was doing "running". Generally I run with relative ease, choosing when I want to step up the intensity. Not so today. Each step was s-l-o-w and required maximum effort. Honestly, if running was always that excruciating and difficult I would be carrying hand weights and power walking. I quickly realized that eleven miles just weren't going to happen today. I was forced to do five instead, and they were the slowest five miles of my life. Feeling defeated, I returned home and went back to bed, disappointed that the sun was barely up and I had already failed to reach one of the day's goals.
Runs like today's can really mess with a runner's head. Because running is such a mental activity, these runs often do a great deal of damage to a runner's self esteem (at least they do to the fragile esteem of this novice runner). All the previous successes you've had get wiped out and replaced by a new image of yourself as this slow creature incapable of distances of any sort. It is only with your next run that you are reminded of your potential as a distance runner, and even then the failed run still remains to lurk in your mind.
Unfortunately setbacks like these can and do permeate other areas of life as well. You think your marriage is running smoothly until you hit a relational pothole the size of a small house. You are pleased with the effort you are making at work until your boss tells you she expects more. You are convinced that your child has finally learned how to play with others when he hauls off and smacks his brother in the head with a truck. And the list goes on...
Knowing that we are "destined for trials" (1 Thesalonians 3:3), why am I so caught off guard when they hit? I supposed it has a lot to do with expectations. My expectation is that, in all areas of my life, I should be growing or improving. If we were to plot an area of our life, say, our marriage, we would expect our relationship with our spouse to be linear: as time goes by, our relationship grows. All one has to do is look at the divorce rate, however, to know that this is obviously not always the case. Our marriage may fail. We may get fired. Our child may be a social misfit forever. We become slow runners as age takes its toll. Things don't always improve.
Or do they? Sometimes life is going in the direction we desire. The route we are taking, though, may not be a straight line leading to perfection but rather a jagged line with a lot of mini valleys, hills, and plateaus. When we find ourselves in one of the valleys after a setback it is sometimes easy to lose sight of the progress we've made. That is when we should reflect on the situation, evaluate it's seriousness and decide on a proper course of action.
So what do we do when life refuses to go the direction we want? Because, let's face it, things don't always work out. We all know someone whose circumstances seem so dire that we begin to question God. Why, God? Why would you let this happen? How much can one person take? Fortunately, I've never been in a situation like this, although I have had my share of difficulties, however minor, and I fully expect to see more. And, as impossible as this may seem, I am to view these troubles as opportunities to grow. Indeed, Romans 5:3-4 says, "We rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." Rejoice. We are to rejoice when we suffer!
Now I'll be honest, I'm not rejoicing when I suffer, and I don't want to rejoice when I suffer. I wasn't all that thrilled to have fought with my husband this week, and I definitely didn't feel like celebrating after my failed run. I'm pretty sure I could do without these things. But, I have to admit that there is some comfort in knowing that these setbacks can produce some good, some growth. A friend put it like this:
If God gave us no rough roads to walk, no mountains to climb, and no battles to fight, we would not grow. He does not leave us alone with our challenges, however. Instead, he stands besides us, teaches us, and strengthens us to face them. (Brandy Clark)
Reflecting on my flopped run, I've decided to commit a verse to memory, one that I can hold on to in the face of a rough run or any tough situation, for that matter. It is:
Habakkuk 3:19 The sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.
Help me to run like a deer, Lord. Be my strength.
As I stepped outside, I was hit by 82 degree air that was the consistency of molasses, and indeed, molasses is what I felt I was running through, if you can call what I was doing "running". Generally I run with relative ease, choosing when I want to step up the intensity. Not so today. Each step was s-l-o-w and required maximum effort. Honestly, if running was always that excruciating and difficult I would be carrying hand weights and power walking. I quickly realized that eleven miles just weren't going to happen today. I was forced to do five instead, and they were the slowest five miles of my life. Feeling defeated, I returned home and went back to bed, disappointed that the sun was barely up and I had already failed to reach one of the day's goals.
Runs like today's can really mess with a runner's head. Because running is such a mental activity, these runs often do a great deal of damage to a runner's self esteem (at least they do to the fragile esteem of this novice runner). All the previous successes you've had get wiped out and replaced by a new image of yourself as this slow creature incapable of distances of any sort. It is only with your next run that you are reminded of your potential as a distance runner, and even then the failed run still remains to lurk in your mind.
Unfortunately setbacks like these can and do permeate other areas of life as well. You think your marriage is running smoothly until you hit a relational pothole the size of a small house. You are pleased with the effort you are making at work until your boss tells you she expects more. You are convinced that your child has finally learned how to play with others when he hauls off and smacks his brother in the head with a truck. And the list goes on...
Knowing that we are "destined for trials" (1 Thesalonians 3:3), why am I so caught off guard when they hit? I supposed it has a lot to do with expectations. My expectation is that, in all areas of my life, I should be growing or improving. If we were to plot an area of our life, say, our marriage, we would expect our relationship with our spouse to be linear: as time goes by, our relationship grows. All one has to do is look at the divorce rate, however, to know that this is obviously not always the case. Our marriage may fail. We may get fired. Our child may be a social misfit forever. We become slow runners as age takes its toll. Things don't always improve.
Or do they? Sometimes life is going in the direction we desire. The route we are taking, though, may not be a straight line leading to perfection but rather a jagged line with a lot of mini valleys, hills, and plateaus. When we find ourselves in one of the valleys after a setback it is sometimes easy to lose sight of the progress we've made. That is when we should reflect on the situation, evaluate it's seriousness and decide on a proper course of action.
So what do we do when life refuses to go the direction we want? Because, let's face it, things don't always work out. We all know someone whose circumstances seem so dire that we begin to question God. Why, God? Why would you let this happen? How much can one person take? Fortunately, I've never been in a situation like this, although I have had my share of difficulties, however minor, and I fully expect to see more. And, as impossible as this may seem, I am to view these troubles as opportunities to grow. Indeed, Romans 5:3-4 says, "We rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." Rejoice. We are to rejoice when we suffer!
Now I'll be honest, I'm not rejoicing when I suffer, and I don't want to rejoice when I suffer. I wasn't all that thrilled to have fought with my husband this week, and I definitely didn't feel like celebrating after my failed run. I'm pretty sure I could do without these things. But, I have to admit that there is some comfort in knowing that these setbacks can produce some good, some growth. A friend put it like this:
If God gave us no rough roads to walk, no mountains to climb, and no battles to fight, we would not grow. He does not leave us alone with our challenges, however. Instead, he stands besides us, teaches us, and strengthens us to face them. (Brandy Clark)
Reflecting on my flopped run, I've decided to commit a verse to memory, one that I can hold on to in the face of a rough run or any tough situation, for that matter. It is:
Habakkuk 3:19 The sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.
Help me to run like a deer, Lord. Be my strength.
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