When it comes to a half-marathon, we join the ranks of the "walkers". We keep a steady heel-toe pace for the duration of the course and are quite content being left in the dust of the pacers and qualifiers. Now, I am all about training and conditioning for a run, and even have a hankering for the competition from time to time, but when I'm with my family at one of these events, we pound the pavement for a different purpose. To us, the half-marathon journey is about the fellowship, about the laughter, about the bonding. It's 13.1 miles of precious memory making.
It's different, though, when it comes to the race we run as Christians. Paul admonished the church in Corinth that in regard to this race, they should be "in it to win it" (I Corinthians 9:24) and the writer of Hebrews tells us that we should "run with endurance the race that is before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus" (Hebrews 12:1-2). The Christian race requires discipline and training. In this race, the purpose IS to win the prize, which is only reserved for those faithful runners whose hearts are focused on staying the course.
Life's course is not an easy one. Orange cones don't align the way making it obvious the direction you should go, rather you determine the course through careful Bible study and constant prayer. Sometimes the road is rough, sometimes you feel like dropping out of the race, sometimes the prize at the end seems unobtainable: those are the times when it really helps to be surrounded by family and friends who share a common goal. I've learned from these half-marathons that sometimes you can face difficulties on your own, but sometimes you cannot.
One year, my Dad, my sisters, and I found ourselves walking the Country Music Half Marathon and noticed an older gentleman ahead. His gray tipped "high and tight" and his T-shirt sporting the letters USMC, gave him away as being retired military. He shuffled along, sweat dripping off his face, eyes locked on the pavement ahead, when all of a sudden something in his path caused him to trip. He fell, full impact, to the ground. My Dad rushed over to offer help, but the man stopped him abruptly with an upheld palm, and with all confidence stated, "I got this". He stood up, blood coming from scratches on his head, arms, and legs and restarted his shuffle to the finish line. Dad turned to me and my sisters and said, "Now that is one tough fella!" Sometimes, in life, when you fall along the course you can honestly say, "I got this" and you just get up and keep going.
On the other hand, sometimes you need the help of others in order to stay on track. There is nothing more motivating at a marathon than to witness blind runners participating in the event. At times, these individuals will run in the center of a protective circle of friends who will guide them around obstacles and keep them within bounds. Other times, they run with a partner and the two will be connected by a rope, or a bar, or will even hold opposite ends of a towel in order to share vision on the course and safely reach the finish line. Occasionally, from behind you'll hear the shout, "Blind runner, coming through!" and immediately the crowd will heed the voice of the caller and clear a passage for the team who represents such a spirit of unity, strength, and endurance.
So, there it is. Life is a race that we run to win and we don't quit! Challenges arise, like potholes or cracks in the blacktop and whether we stagger alone with road rash or reach out to fellow runners when we lose sight of the path, we keep on keeping on! The true joy will be crossing the finish line where the prize awaits! Then we will be able to say, like Paul in II Timothy 4:7-8, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing".
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