Lesson Learned: Run Your Own Race -- Not Someone Else's

I do my best to run at least 15 miles a week on my treadmill and sometimes walk with friends around my neighborhood. Where my Jacuzzi tub would have been installed, I had my builder to simply put the plumbing in the wall, in case I ever wanted to install it. Instead, that’s where my treadmill is located. I’m on purpose. I know the health benefits of running/walking/jogging (i.e., staying active). I’ve been running for many years. Best of all, it keeps my goal weight intact, especially with this love of food that I have! LOL! This is MY race and I’m running it.

I have friends that regularly go to a gym, have fitness trainers, have their FitBit watches on to monitor their activity levels. I could quickly shift from focusing on “my race” – the one that’s marked for me, and start comparing myself to others. When my eyes were not on "my race", I had some major falls and it took lots of intense therapies and chiropractic treatments to get healthy enough to get back in “my race”.

Among the basics for running (or even walking) is “keep your eyes on where you are going”, instead of getting distracted. The distractions can keep us from seeing the uneven pavement, the stones in our pathway, or puddles in the road – all of which can be that obstacle that sends us tumbling. My little sweet Mama taught me that. The older she became, the more focused she was on her steps. She had too many friends with broken hips, legs or arms that came as a result of carelessness – not focusing on “their race”. The remedy is “considering” as we run our races.

It’s the same principle as we run our “life races”. Hebrews 12:1-3 says “Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, FIXING OUR EYES on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith . . . Consider Him who endured such opposition so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

The cure to eliminating distractions, disappointments, weariness and from comparing ourselves to others is “considering” (aka focusing). Fixing our eyes on Jesus, CONSIDERING Him and all He went through for us, keeps us pursuing God’s best for us and protects our minds from distractions. It also reminds us that the journey we’re on is not about competition but completion. "You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in Yyou, all whose thoughts are fixed on You!" Isaiah 26:3

I sure want to finish my race strong, and the best, most efficient, and care-free way to do that....is keeping my eyes on where I'm going -- keeping my eyes AND thoughts on Who's waiting on me at the Finish Line! I'm running to the Finish Line set just for me, and when I get there, He WILL BE there waiting for me.....with arms open wide.