Keep Running

Today on my run, I encountered someone who encouraged me. There she was heading towards me on the path with her cane in hand. I saw her from a long way off coming down the hill I was headed up. I was thinking about how I wanted to be done but I turned my focus on her instead. She was struggling along one step at a time but she was doing it. Watching her made me think about how thankful I am for my health and where I am at. I have not reached my goal but I am on the way. It made me a little ashamed about how I complain to myself about my progress. It also reminded me that I cannot compare myself to others. I have to go from where I am at. If I keep running, I am going to continue to see progress and results.

When I caught up with her, I had to say, "You are looking good, keep it up." She laughed and said "Thanks." I should have stopped and told her what an encouragement she was to me. If I see her again on my run, I will do exactly that.

It reminds me of what Paul said in Philippians 3:12: "Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus." He continues on in verses 13-14 saying: "Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for that prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." I am going to keep running.

We are all at different places in our walk with God. Sometimes I feel like I am moving so fast towards where I should be going and at others I feel like I am struggling along. I cannot compare myself to others. How can I compare an apple to an orange? There is no one else on earth like me. No one else is called to do exactly what I am called to do. No one else is called to reach those I am called to reach. (Of course, if I neglect what I am supposed to be doing God will send someone else to do it.) If I am focused on someone else and what they are doing, my focus is not on what I am supposed to be doing and it is likely that I will miss something. The same is true for you.

Keep running. Keep pressing. Don't worry about the pace of your progress unless you are not working towards your goal. If you keep going, there will be progress. If you quit, there won't. It is pretty easy, isn't it? Why do we complicate it sometimes?