challenges anyone who has gotten sidetracked or grown weary in their Christian walk.
Once I started getting beyond the "I think I'm going to die if I run more than a few minutes" mode, I started to learn about pacing myself. If I was to run for a half an hour, it became very important that I had enough energy to last a half an hour. Naturally our tendency is to start out full of energy and then we just go until we can't go any more. But in running, that is very dangerous: what if you don't have enough energy to make it to the end?
In running they instruct you to develop what is called "negative splits". This is when you divide the total distance into certain distances, like a mile, and with each mile, keep increasing your speed. The goal is to get progressively faster throughout the run. Start slower and build speed. At the end you are going your fastest. At the end you are able to give it your all since you still have energy.
This is great in theory, but in practice it is difficult. Generally, for me, on a four mile run the first two miles are great, then in the third mile, I slow down. I start to have mind battles. I have doubts. I want to quit. I get tired. I wonder if I can make it to the end.
But I push through. Usually, my fourth mile is the strongest since I know I can go all out.
It is the mid-point that gives me trouble. It is in the midst of the run that I begin to doubt. It is at the halfway point that I wonder if this is worth it.
The goal is the negative split. Start out nicely, but pace yourself. Finish strong.I read an article about a guy who was running a marathon and dropped over dead close to the finish line. He didn't make it. I've been in races where people start out strong. Way ahead of me. Then they hit the wall and can't run any more. They start walking. I pass them. That's awkward. That's embarrassing.
Our pastor has been preaching a sermon series about Elijah. Elijah did all kinds of great things. But when Jezebel said she wanted him dead, Elijah ran away. I've heard numerous messages about what happened in the cave. Some have put a positive spin on it. But one message has stuck out in my mind. Elijah wanted to give up and die. After all God did to encourage him and speak to him, Elijah still had a "woe-is-me" attitude. So God said to anoint two kings, and anoint a successor for Elijah. Elijah was through. He was done. Fired. Off the team. Game over. How sad. What a way to end. Obviously, that wasn't the original plan. Elijah was perhaps the greatest prophet. But he didn't endure to the end.
When it got tough, he caved (pun intended).
That may sound harsh, but it appears to be true.
How often have we seen people start out so strong, and then quickly slow to a walk? Or stop? Perhaps that has been you (or me).
Negative splits. Each season we are running progressively faster. Stronger and stronger.
As we mature, we should realize even more of what we have inside of us. Who we have inside of us. To know that we have the strength to go the distance.
I'm not going to quote you a bunch of scriptures, but think about these stories: Moses, David, Abraham, Joseph, Job, and Paul. They all had pivotal experiences part way through their lives. They could have quit right then. They could have stopped the race. But they didn't. They dug down. They put their inner faith in Someone much greater than themselves. They finished strong.
A verse that rings through my head is this: "You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?" (Galatians 5:7) So many of us have started out strong. You may have been radically saved and things went well for a while but then you began to compromise. You may have started out strong in your ministry, but your passion faded. You may have been passionately in love with Jesus, but now He is a distance memory. Who cut in on you? Where is that inner resolve to push through the hard times? Do you have what it takes to finish this race strong?
Young people whom I have been around: Are you still going strong? Did someone cut in on you? Are you still passionate for God? Are you running a negative split? Are you getting stronger and stronger in your faith?
In my running, I have only stopped running once in the middle of a run, and that was because I was very ill. I wish I could say the same thing about this spiritual journey that I am running. It is easier said than done. I'm right there with you. But that doesn't make it right. I feel some of the fight coming back. I feel some of the desire to press on. I feel some of the contending rising up inside of me. I am beginning to have hope and vision for the second half of the race. I will be a contender. I will finish strong. I will run this race with negative splits.
Will you join me?
