Running the Race

My friend Sandra Groveman asked how she could pray for me. "You know that this is a season of transition for C.J. and me," I began. Yes, she knew. As a member of Covenant Life Church, Sandra was present on that Sunday morning last September when my husband passed the leadership of the church--the church he had lead for twenty-seven years--to the man he had trained to replace him (our new senior pastor, Joshua Harris). It was a day full of joy and one I will never forget. It was also the beginning of another chapter in our lives.

"So in light of this new season," I told Sandra, "please pray for wisdom to know God's will. And most of all...grace to walk humbly before our God and finish our race well."

"Of course I will pray for you," Sandra replied. I'm confident she will. She always does. Then Sandra told me a story:

"When I was a little girl my father would lead me and my nine brothers and sisters in long talks over dinner--talks that left an indelible mark on my life. I still remember sitting at the table, stealing glances out the window, watching my friends play and the sun set, as my father dispensed wisdom about life-issues. These conversations could last up to three hours. It was at one of these dinners that he shared a piece of advice I'll never forget. He was a runner. And he told us: 'a good runner, he always saves his best stamina for the end of the race.''"

My son-in-law Steve, who ran track in high school, explained this to me in greater detail. "As you approach the finish line, that's when you run with everything you've got. The idea is to finish the race with nothing left."

Last month I turned fifty. I am finishing many tasks. I am seeking to discern what new tasks God would have me take up.  And this is my prayer...that God would help me, now, to give Him my best effort. That I wouldn't be tempted to slow down or stop to rest, but continue to run with everything I've got. And that one day, when my race is over, I would truly finish with nothing left. Because of His perserving grace, I am confident God will answer my prayer.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:1-2