My blog this week is better late than never and for a good reason. I spent my Monday morning in the Emergency Room with dreaded kidney stones. My 3rd attack in two years. I praise God all is well and I am back to normalcy. Now onto this weeks blog!
Maybe 12 years ago I attended a Men's breakfast at my church. I settled at a table with a few other men and two gentlemen approached our table and asked if they could join us. One was a very wealthy man and the other a very prominent and well known lawyer. I was honored that they were sitting with us and we had a great time of fellowship. After we all went up for delicious scrambled eggs, we were encouraged to pray for each other around our tables. I will never forget the words that came out of the lawyers mouth as he prayed for me. "Lord, please let Pastor Dave know that in his life and in his ministry, he is not in a sprint, he is in a marathon." I thought about that prayer for a long time not only how it pertained to me life 12 years ago but also now. How many times have we tried to rush through life or rush through a circumstance like we are sprinting when we really need to slow down our pace like a marathon runner. So what is a sprinter when it comes to track and field? What is a marathon runner when it comes to the New York City marathon.
The fastest 40 yard dash ever in the National Football League since 2006 took place in the year 2008 at the NFL Combine. It was Chris Johnson of the Tennessee Titans who ran the "40" in 4.24 seconds. Now that's fast! Mr. Johnson ran as fast as he could when he ran his very fast "40". He didn't take his sweet time running. He ran very fast and it went very quick. 4.24 seconds is certainly faster than I have ever run in my lifetime. In life we want everything fast. Every single day I deal with guests at Chick Fil-A who expect a $50 order to be in their hands in a matter of seconds. Sometimes we expect God to work that way as well. We want him to work as fast as possible. We want to sprint through every situation when it is his truthfully His will to take things slow and not be in a hurry. He wants us to grow and have faith in him.
The New York City Marathon takes place every November and is 26.2 miles long. I attended that marathon in 2013 and helped a church in Brooklyn evangelize in front of their church. I saw thousands of people run. Some looked like they were in amazing shape. Others looked like they struggled and ran very slow. The main goal for probably 85% of the runners in that race was to finish. The odds of winning were very slim. They wanted to finish. In the history of marathon's, no one has ever sprinted an entire marathon. That is impossible! Each runner takes in slow. They run a steady pace. When they cross that finish line they are exhausted, but happy that they finished. They ran a race. They took it slow. A marathon is what we need to run in life sometimes. We need to slow down and not rush through life. We need to take it slow and realize that one day when we get to heaven we will cross that glorious finish line.
So as our summer comes to a close, let's remember that life is not a sprint, it really is a marathon. Put on those running shoes!!
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