I think all too often we look at it like we're running in a competitive race. We have certain expectations of ourselves. We should be further along than we are. I need to get ahead of that person. I shouldn't be tripping any more! We get discouraged and feel like we can't do it. But we're not failing at the race, we're failing at running it the way we expect ourselves to run it, and let's be honest sometimes the way others expect us to run it. But, the only person we should be worried about pleasing is God.
Hebrews 12:1b-2a And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.
With perseverance is the way we are told to run. Not at a certain speed. Not perfectly. Not with any expectation but to persevere. So if you have been struggling and you feel like you haven't been running the race well. You have faltered or even fell completely flat on your face. Allow God to pick you up, bandage your wounds and even if all you can do for today is simply crawl towards Him, just take that one step. It's simply one step at a time. Or if you feel that you are behind. You feel like everyone else is passing you and you are getting left behind, I challenge you take your eyes off those other people and focus them on Christ. It's not about where they are or where you are in comparison to them. It's about where you are in relation to Christ. I am challenged with this I think daily! Let's run our race for an audience of one!
