Seeing Jesus

Today the weather was perfect, and I worked through lunch so I could get out and enjoy it. I decided to go for a run on the canal trail to Hebron, planning on a 10 miler. When I got to the 5 mile mark, I had already decided to push it to a half marathon, meaning I'd go through Hebron (to the end of the sidewalk) and turn around. As I was coming around the corner into town, I passed a woman walking, pushing a wheelchair. I thought it was a stroller first, but then I realized it was a wheelchair, and in it was a boy, probably a young teenager (at oldest). I passed them by, but they made me think...

...after I'd hit the turn-around, I saw them again, still heading in the same direction. But they turned down a side street and I kept running. Except I needed to talk to them. So I stopped my stopwatch and ran after them. I first spoke to the woman, thanking her for taking care of someone with special needs. I don't know if she was his mother or just a caretaker, but for some reason, it touched me how she was walking with him in the beautiful weather. I told her that when I saw her caring for him, I saw Jesus working through her.

Then I turned to him and greeted him and introduced myself and made a comment about the weather, and his face was radiant. His smile was ear-to-ear, and his eyes lit up. And when I looked into them, I was looking into Jesus' eyes.

I know why I ran when I did. And I know why I stretched it into a half marathon. It was because I was supposed to. God wanted me to do it, so I would see His Son.

Hard

God never told us life would be easy.  In fact, Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble." (John 16:33b) But The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him. (Nahum 1:7). This is why Jesus went on (in John 16:33) to say "But take heart! I have overcome the world."

Life is hard.  But God is good.

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.

How Powerful is God?

Have you ever asked that question? Of course you have. You probably haven't asked it in that exact way, unless maybe you're a skeptic and you're trying to stump a Christian who can't really conceive of how powerful "all-powerful" could possibly be.

Anyway, on my handy-dandy Google Reader is a great blog called "Stuff Christians Like" and today's post really hits a home run in the "How Powerful is God?" question.

We often get caught up when it seems like God couldn't possibly do what we're asking/needing Him to do. But what we're really doing is asking the question: is __________ more powerful than God?

A Message From God

God is calling you to do What He has empowered you for and gifted you to do. God is not calling someone else to do it; God is calling you. Therefore, you don't have to be somebody else to do it; you need only to be yourself, empowered and called by God.