I Have Made It

Growing up I wasn’t particularly athletic. I tried, but I was pretty uncoordinated. Then, I turned 13 and something magical happened! Suddenly, I started finding my balance and developing into a pretty good athlete. I don’t really know what changed or how it happened, I just know that it happened. I carried this athletic ability with me throughout my life and found it to be incredibly important for my mental health. In my early adulthood I discovered distance running. My first runs, though only 5km, were incredibly painful. However, after a while, I realised if I ran with a rhythm I could just keep on running. I went from running 5km to longer distances, and in a short space of time my favourite distance became 20km. 

When you run long distance, there is a mental pain that you must learn to embrace and push through at the same time, often called “the wall.” This wall is when your mind tells you to quit, and it can be quite convincing. I remember friends asking me to train them to run long distances, and when I felt the wall coming I would tell them we needed to choose a landmark somewhere in the distance: a hilltop or light post. We only had to make it to that spot. Rest would come, but for now, dream of that spot, run to that spot, hold your rhythm to that spot. When we got to the spot we would run right past it, nothing changing externally, but we’d internally scream, “I have made it!” For some reason it was enough to fuel me to keep moving. However, I ran with people who would complain about running past the goal. They would focus on the goal they had just accomplished and would be dreaming of going back, asking why we were still running.

In Philippians 3:12-14, Paul talks about his ability to push on, despite his many accomplishments. He had planted churches, experienced miracles, been beaten for the sake of Jesus, preached many transformational messages, and even personally witnessed the risen Jesus in the form of a bright light. Despite his impressive resume, he still says he presses on toward his goal!

I wonder if Paul was to teach us how to run our faith, he would approach it similarly to how I approach running. He might say, “just focus on that next goal in front of you. Put everything else out of your mind and get there. When we get there, celebrate on the inside. Whatever you do, don’t stop running, don’t stop reading the Bible, don’t stop praying, don’t stop being discipled, don’t stop making disciples, don’t stop worshiping, don’t stop moving toward that end goal of being like Christ.” 

It would be so sad if in our Christian journey we were focused on what we had accomplished yesterday, or our ability to get through that last trial rather than moving forward. To make the distance in running you must quickly move through your goal and realise that after every goal, there is a new goal to run towards. In our faith journey it is the same. Whatever we accomplished yesterday, whatever trials we have overcome, it is time to let them go and move on to the new horizon, the new goal that is in front of you. 

Pray With Me

God, thank You for all that I have accomplished and all that I have overcome. God, let me not be satisfied with what has come before. Keep me focused on what is in front of me and the strength to focus on the new goals, dreams, and visions You have placed in front of me. Amen

Key Memory Verse

Philippians 3:13-14, "Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

Written by Simeon & Lisa Hoffmann, Location Pastors, Citipointe Church Ipswich