Why Do You Race?Намуна

Race with Peace

It’s funny, or perhaps tragic, how endurance sports can cause so much stress and anxiety in a person’s life. It’s almost as if we forget that for most people, endurance sports are an optional hobby and something we get to do for fun. The whole process can rob you of plenty of joy and peace. From the stress created by trying to squeeze in workouts among a crazy life schedule, and even race-day anxieties over the unknowns of the day. Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why?

We won’t try to overanalyze this question here, but I would suggest two quick thoughts that might help us understand what creates this. The first will bring us right back to yesterday’s reading and devotional. What are your goals for training and racing? Is your purpose worshipping the Lord, encouraging other believers, and making disciples; or is it something else? I’m not suggesting that godly purposes don’t at times create a little anxiety, as I know that sharing your faith can sometimes create more anxiety than an Ironman. I’m also not suggesting that we shouldn’t do our absolute best as we train and compete. Quite the contrary. God calls us to do our best for Him as we worship through participation.

However, when glorifying the Lord becomes our primary goal, PR’s and podiums don’t seem like quite as big a deal. We are also much less likely to get stressed about missing or changing a workout so that we can spend extra time with our families, serve through our church, or help a neighbor who unexpectedly needs some assistance.

My second point builds off of the first, but is more about faith than purpose and priorities. When we are following the Lord and completely trusting Him with our training and racing, what do we have to be anxious about? Think about it… the all-powerful, all-knowing, awesome God of the universe loves you and is with you. What do you have to fear? Now, this is not to say that things won’t get hard, sometimes extremely hard, beyond what you can imagine. However, we can trust Him and know that He will not only help us through our trials, but that our eternal reward is coming. One that far exceeds any prize won through an endurance race. Thus, I encourage faithfully trusting and following the Lord as He leads your life, including the endurance sports parts of it. Seek Him through humble prayer and trust Him and His plan. When you do this, God promises a peace that surpasses all understanding. I know this will be a welcome gift to many as they begin race day warm-ups.

Reflections:
1. Does your endurance sports participation create stress? Why, or which parts?
2. What would it look like for you to train and compete with only one goal – glorifying the Lord? How would this affect your training and racing anxiety?
3. Do you fully trust the Lord with your endurance sports participation? How do you feel about letting the Lord dictate your personal goals, your training schedule, or whether you even participate?

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