Tuesday, August 03, 2010

Competition

This morning I was running some speed work on the track. Usually when I run speed work, I like to have loud music blaring in my ears, pushing me faster, but this morning the humidity and (almost) rain forced me to run without tunes. So I was doing what I usually do when I run: praying.

As I prayed, I felt like God was telling me something. Something subtle in that still small voice. Or maybe not. "Shut up" were the exact words. "I want to talk to you for a while."

As I "listened" God "spoke." It was all about competition. One reason I run is because I'm competitive. mostly against myself. And as I ran my 1600m repeats, I was focused on "negative splits" (meaning running each one faster than the other).

The message I got from God was that I've been working hard all my life to prove that I'm good enough. That I fit in. If I can only achieve, then it will prove all that.

God told me that I don't have anything to prove, because it doesn't have anything to do with how well I achieve. I have worth because of who HE is. Because He declares me "good enough" for His love. Because He declares me not just barely good enough, but perfect - made so by the blood of Jesus.

It was a great feeling to be reminded of who I am.

And I ran the last 1600m 5 seconds faster than the first.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

awesome when we hear such things from the Lord. i just friended you on dailymile. i'm a pastor too. i was pleased to find another.

Chad said...

thanks for sharing such an intimate word from God. I love when he draws us to hear something from his heart to ours. I hope I can find someone as open to recieving such things while they run nearby so i can go with them!