DEVOTION IN MOTION - SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE

"A friend loves at all times."  Proverbs 7:17a

Some of you may know that I started running about a year and a half ago after I bought a treadmill.  I intended to WALK on the treadmill and try to get a healthier lifestyle going.  It was never my intention to run.  I hated running.  When I say hated, I mean HATED running!  But my iPod and Steve Perry had different ideas (see that post here), and today I am actually a runner.  And I love it!

When I could not contain myself anymore inside, I moved outside.  I love running outside.  The scenery is a great distraction.  Because, while I love running....it is by no means easy for me.  There is something about being outside that is invigorating and beautiful.

Once outside, I was not content to just jog along.  I started to push myself a little to see what my body could do.  I was amazed at how much faster and longer I could run outside.  It was very different than running inside.  I kept pushing myself and pushing myself.  It is exciting to see what the body-machine that God made for you can do....especially when I let mine sit dormant for so long. I especially loved to see how fast my breathing could return to normal when I stopped after running at 7400 feet!  It was a great feeling and soon, I wanted to feel that way all the time.  I ran more often and longer and faster!  I loved it.  Until......

Shin splints.

If you have never had them, consider yourself very blessed!  My ankles and shins hurt so bad.  I was in pain from the time I got up until I went to bed.  It was almost the worst.  The actual worst was finding out what the "cure" for shin splints is.  No running.  Not even a little by the time I got to the point I was at.  I was devastated.  I know.....it is only running. To you.  But to me, it had become my escape, my victory, my energy booster, my distraction, my self esteem.  Now, I wasn't even allowed to run at ALL!  I had to take THREE months off from running, during which my only exercise was an elliptical (and if you REALLY want to know what I think of that, check this post!).  I hated the elliptical!  It was not at all enjoyable to me.  All it did was help me bide my time until I could run again.

And run, I did!  So hard, so fast, so long.....that I ended up in pain AGAIN!  That sidelined me for 2 months. Terrible.  But it taught me something.

All that dedication and drive got me nowhere.....fast.  As a matter of fact, after the initial high of the fast and furious and victorious....it completely incapacitated me.  I was useless.  Not only for running, but even for other necessary things....like WALKING!  I needed to resolve to take it slower and shorter at first. To get back to the reason I was running in the first place.  Not so that I could win the psychological battle every day....but so that I was healthy.  I wanted to enjoy running again, not play mind games with my body.  I wanted to just hit my groove and stay consistent and healthy.

That is how it can be with friendship, too.  Sometimes, we meet amazing people and we connect right away and it feels great!  We find ourselves thinking about this new friend and we get excited when time works out to get together.  We may even push other things in our life so that there is MORE time with this person.  All the while building this person up in our mind.  We don't know the person well yet, so our mental image of them becomes fact in our heart.  Without realizing, we push harder and harder and build those mental images into unplanned expectations on our new friend.  Then, one of two things happens....either, they let us down because they are not really the person we imagined them to be, or we scare them away with our unfair expectations.  Either one of those things can sideline our new friendship.  If both occur, we may never run again.

Then we are back to the elliptical of life.  Mourning what could have been and what we had.  Sad, and discouraged.  But....if we stay on the mundane elliptical and concentrate on our true Best Friend and what he has for us, he ministers to us.  And gently, the Holy Spirit is faithful to convict our hearts of our mistakes.

And you know what I find in the Holy Spirit's coaching.  Almost all the time, he says, "slow and steady wins the race."  He spurs us on to run the race for God's glory.  We realize, if we listen to our coaching, that the best friendships are Christ centered.  They are focused on the ultimate goal....not just our own.  They grow over time through maturity in the Word and in spirit.

When I started back running, I just enjoyed it and put away my GPS watch.  I stopped paying attention to all that I COULD be doing with my speed and distance and just enjoyed the run. I focused on the most important goal....health. After awhile, I noticed that my worship, my praise, my prayer and my mental time were abundant!    I was running slower....but I was running consistently and joyfully.

In my friendships, I have found the same aspect.  If I throw myself into a friendship because I love how I feel when I am with someone, I am in it for me only.  For what I get out of the friendship. The goal is mine alone.  True, many times, that person is running the mad dash with me.  But, it seems that in almost all cases (save one I can think of) both of us tucker out before the finish line and learn hard and difficult things about ourselves while being stuck on the elliptical of reflection.

But, when Jesus is at the center of my friendships.....when I make him my Best Friend and desire him more than my earthly friends, he is always, always faithful to bring like-hearted friends into my circle.  Doesn't mean that there aren't some really fun sprinters in my life, too.  But, usually, the marathoners are the ones I have known for awhile and have no expectations on.  I am just jogging along enjoying the run and when I look around I notice gone are the sprinters.....

But, WOW!, look at the marathoners that I didn't even realize were running slow and steady with me all along!  We have been running half the race at the same time, and then the Lord puts on the same path to finish together at the finish line.

Then I know that no matter how slow I go, no matter how many hills I have to climb, no matter how bad the terrain gets, my fellow marathoners will be there running with me until we cross the finish line together....

Slow and steady.