Marathon vs. Sprint

Marathon vs. Sprint

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, Hebrews 12:1 ESV

In the physical, a sprint is a quick race. If you look away, you may just miss who won. Whereas a marathon is a race of endurance. Your journey is a marathon, it is a race of endurance. This journey is not one that you are trying to hurry up and get through. It has stops along the way, places along the way where you may stop and enjoy the view. 

On this journey, you have introduced to so many steps. I don’t want you to feel like this is a race against anyone else. This is the journey of your life, and you must find the cadence and the pace that God has for you and run at that pace. You find that through daily time spent with God. Just as a runner preparing for their marathon, spends time working on their cadence. They work on breathing and work their way up to the entire marathon distance. No two marathons are alike just as no two journeys with God are alike. 

I have written about not striving, and you know what tonight I am struggling because I am treating my writing like a sprint. Not to say that there aren’t lots of thoughts swirling around in my heart. Conversations to be had with God, to get those thoughts and truths down on paper. But the one thing I am learning is that all endurance racers know and understand the importance of rest. I believe often when we hear rest, we think sleep. The truth is rest is something completely different. It looks different for each person. 

I have friends who work out lifting weights almost every day, but what they have learned is the importance of listening to their body and incorporating rest days. Those days may look like taking a walk and doing some stretches and being done for the day! Rest for me looks like, getting in my kitchen and creating something new, or even following a recipe and creating a meal, Rest for me used to be going to my friends paint your own pottery shop and getting creative. In the beginning, when I first started going, I did not like it. I wanted to be finished as quickly as possible, But, as I began to just sit and take my time, I began to enjoy the time I was taking to create something. I believe that in those times, I chose to rest that each time I found my relationship with God deepens. 

So today I encourage you to run your journey with endurance and remember that on that journey of endurance there will be places to rest. Don’t rush by those places, embrace them and, cherish them. They are sweet times of refreshing so, you can run another day.