Fight for It: A 21-Day DevotionalSýnishorn

Today’s Devotional:

One year my high school track coach made a decision he later regretted. He placed me (a pole vaulter) in the 400-meter race. With no training or experience, I filled in to earn extra points for our team. After the gun fired, I was so far ahead of everyone, I thought I must be a hidden prodigy. The crowd roared, and I read their thoughts: We had an Olympic athlete on our hands all this time! How did we miss this?

After the first lap, the rest of the runners caught up. Even though my mind told my legs to move faster, they responded like sandbags. One athlete passed me, then another, until I was left in everyone’s dust. And that is how long my Olympic dream lasted, a whole 100 meters. After the race, a few friends patted me on the back and gave me lectures about pace and endurance (but everything was hard to hear through getting sick on the sidelines).

Kicking off the new year with prayer and fasting gives us great momentum in our relationship with God. But we can’t treat our time with God like another New Year’s resolution (or like my 400-meter dash attempt) that fizzles out when we grow weary. Jesus wants our relationship with Him to be consistent. He is not a phase, He is our source of life. When we feel weary, we can rely on God’s supernatural strength as we continue to seek Him, and look for ways to pace ourselves with regular Spiritual disciplines.

The Apostle Paul encourages us in Hebrews to “run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer, and perfecter of faith.” As Paul reflected on his life in 1 Timothy, he says, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” Paul’s example shows us that following Jesus is a lifelong journey of faith that requires endurance.

The more experienced 400-meter runners consistently trained to run their race. But because I lacked training, the first sign of fatigue led to burnout. Our daily disciplines of prayer, Bible reading, and worship build Spiritual muscles that strengthen us through every season. The goal isn’t to compare our race with someone else’s, but to keep moving forward with Jesus.

Martin Luther King Jr. says, “If you can't fly, then run, if you can't run, then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”

—

Today’s devotional was written by Melissa Miller

Question:

• What will you do to keep moving forward with God after the fast ends?

A Prayer to ‘Look Out’: God, give me your supernatural strength so that I can keep running the race of faith with endurance. Strengthen me when I feel weary. Help me to implement Spiritual disciplines to sustain me through every season. Help me to have eyes of compassion to see those around me that will be impacted by my race of faith. Amen.