If you accidentally stumbled upon this blog post hoping for exercise
advice let me go ahead and warn you that you have come to the wrong place. There
are very few things in this world that I like less than running. I wish I was a
health nut that loved to exercise, but I hate it so much that recently the only
way I’ve been able to make myself “work out” and get my heart rate up has been
through playing just dance on our wii. I am pathetic, I know it, and I am
totally ok with it! What the title of this post is referring to is 1
Corinthians 9:24 “Do you not know that in a race all runners run, but only one receives
the prize? So run that you may obtain it.”
There are a couple of times that scripture uses a race as a
metaphor for our earthly life; a great race that takes perseverance and faith.
When you get married you are signing on to be your spouse’s running partner for
the remainder of that race. It is fun to have someone to run with. Someone to
share the small everyday victories with, someone to offer support in the
failures, someone to share in your passions, dreams, and goals. But being someone’s
running partner comes with big responsibilities.
What makes a good running partner?
- Encouragement / support
- Keeping pace
- Fighting till the finish
When someone is training to run a marathon they have to do a
lot more than just run every day. They must develop a whole life style that is
going to help them finish the race. They have to watch what they put into their
body. Too much junk food and not enough water will slow them down, and possibly
make them sick. They have to stretch before and after to avoid pulling muscles,
and they have to stay committed to a daily routine. No one wakes up one day,
and without any training goes out and runs a marathon. Why not? Because our
body’s cannot accomplish such an amazing feet without months of preparation.
You have to build up stamina, get calluses on your feet, build muscle, and work
up the self control to continue even when you want to stop. It’s the same with the
Christian life. We don’t wake up one day and just decide to stop sinning and be
this awesome person who puts others before ourselves, and is always loving,
never hateful, never bitter, always truthful, and always compassionate. It just
doesn't happen, because our bodies, our minds, our hearts, are naturally
sinful. It takes faith and perseverance, a lot of prayer and dependence
on God. We trust that he is training us for this race. That he is giving us the
tools we need, that he is strengthening our self control. We trust that he is
going to see us through the end, but we have to understand that we have to work
hard to get to the end. And we have to protect ourselves from bad habits and
patterns that are going to slow us down. So lets look at the good habits we
need to adopt in order to be the best runner, and running partner that we can.
1.
Encouragement / Support.
As mentioned earlier, I hate working out.
However, I am much more likely to follow through with a fitness plan when I
have someone that is doing it with me. That way we can hold each other
accountable and encourage each other when the other wants to quit. When you are
married you have someone to partner with in every aspect of life. Do you need
your husband to get you through the race? No. God is more than we will ever
need when it comes to love support, and encouragement. We should never look to
our husbands to be the sole provider of this in our lives. Nor should we expect
ourselves to fill our husband’s every need in this area. God is always the one
you should look to, but I like to see it more as God using my husband to fill
my needs. That is not always the way God chooses to fill those needs, but it is
certainly a way in which he often chooses to bless me. Likewise, I want to be
the avenue in which God chooses to bless Jon with encouragement and support. I
want to be available for God to use me in my husband’s everyday life. But in
order to give out love, encouragement, kindness, and compassion, you have to be
filled with these things first. It’s a beautiful cycle of us going to the
father to be filled, and then turning around and pouring that out into other
people in our lives. Make a habit of going to God often with prayer and
petition (Philippians 4:6) and getting in the word to hear God speak and be
reminded of his grace, love, and mercy, and who you are in him. When both you
and your spouse are doing this then you are able to give to each other. When one
gets down, the other has the strength to pick them up. Build yourself up in
Christ so that you may have the strength to build others up.
2.
Keeping pace.
Since running has never been my choice of
exercise, I am not 100% sure of what one looks for in a running partner, but I
would think you would want someone who kept pace with you. Someone that doesn’t
slow you down, or leave you in the dust, but rather runs with you; when running
together you each push the other to do better, to run faster, to run longer. That’s
what I want in a life running partner. I pray daily for both mine and my husband’s
personal relationship with God. I want us both to grow together, to help each
other draw near to Him. In order to maintain a healthy growing relationship that
is an earthy picture of Christ’s love for his church, we must both move
forward. One of us can’t be left behind. We have to push the other to run
faster, longer. This is why me and Jon have developed the habit of getting in
the word together every night. While I hope that we are both seeking him on an
individual level, I think it is also important that we seek God together. That
way we know where the other one is, how they are doing, how they are feeling.
We read one chapter a night. Just one. And then we talk about it. We talk about
what it means to us, how we interpret it, how it challenges us. It takes us
about 15 minutes before we go to bed. 15 minutes a day isn't very much; I am
sure even the busiest of people can find 15 minutes. This brings us closer to
God, but also closer to each other, and keeps us on the same track. This way we
aren't each running a separate race, but the same race, together.
3.
Fighting till the finish.
It is much easier to NOT finish a marathon than
it is to finish one. But the reward is at the end, so if you want your medal,
you have to keep going. God tells us that he creating in us the perseverance we
need to finish the race, so we can have faith that we do. But I don’t want to
just finish, I want to finish well. Life is going to have its fair share of
up-hill battles. It’s going to be a fight. But it is a fight that is worth it.
Fight for your marriage, for your family, for your relationship with Christ,
for your husband’s relationship with Christ. When it’s hard, keep going; when
it is easy give thanks and catch your breath! But always run. And don’t just
run, run to win.
-holly
photos taken by Jordan Washer Photography
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