Prelude: Isaiah 43:7 says- "everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made." I was brought to tears about a week ago as I read this very verse in the context of the Beth Moore study, "Breaking Free." What does being created for God's glory mean? God's glory has 2 awesome truths. One is God wants to make Himself recognizable to us and number two, God wants to make Himself recognizable through us. Then I was hit with 1 Corinthians 10:31 "so whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God." Seeing those two verses back to back had such an impact on me and the weight of God's truth was written deep within my soul as I prepared for the 20 mile run, the longest run of the Honolulu Marathon training.
Why: A lot of people have asked me why I'm doing this. Why am I running a marathon. Something I've never ever could fathom I could do. Is it for health? Not really. I'm a member of Lifetime Fitness and can get on an elliptical 5 times a week and take it easy on the joints or just train simply for a 5k. Why put my body through such immense amount of discipline and stress for an end result which could be achieved by simpler methods? Am I doing this just to say "I've run a marathon"? Nope. I think I've done enough crazy things...jumping out of a plane, interning with the Porter County Sheriff's department, tee peeing houses, etc. to just say that "I've done this."
Background: I'll have to retrace my steps from when I first got involved in running in order to fully explain the phenomenon that is taking place in my life. I started running back in 2004 with a small group of friends from Harvest Bible Chapel. My roommate at the time, Kim and a girl from our small group, Lisa and I had never ran any type of organized race in our lives. We decided to train together for our first 5k. Depending on how long you've known me, especially those from the college days and prior, you probably don't think of the word "athlete" and the name "Ramona" being in the same sentence unless you're talking about someone who is an athletic supporter. Unlike music, the arts, shopping, and gabbing, God has not gifted me in the athletic department. The closest thing to me being compared to an athlete would be through dancing and even that is probably questionable. I am very unable to venture into the land of running without any type of help.
God's help: I'm always blessed and humbled to have experienced some tough times in my life. God has prompted and lead me to do things I had no ability to do. 2 Cor 12: 9-10 "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." It is such an awesome thing to surrender your inabilities to God and let Him work through you to use you in a way you never thought you could be used. It's during these times I have the opportunity to clearly see God at work. There is no way I've been able to run even a block without God's strength and motivation. Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through him who gives me strength."
Surrender: Goodness. I've had to give up my agenda in order to train for this. But bigger than that, is my pride and what I want out of this. I can be competitive. I want to perfect my technique. I want to be fast. I want to run this marathon in a certain time. I then realized that the time I need to invest in the training for the things I want out of this journey are not important and fall short of what I need in order to finish the race. I realized that I must be disciplined in spending time with God first before I head out to run. I can't expect to have enough fuel to go more than 2 blocks before I poop out if I haven't been fed a serving of God's word. It was definitely a struggle to let go of the days I would reach Lake Arlington and know that I had yet to have time with God prior to my arrival. And so, I traded the physical training for spiritual training first. 1 Timothy 4: 8 "train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." I trusted God that even if I missed a day of running, that He would be faithful to give me strength and endurance for the next run as long as I had committed myself to spending time with him first. Let me tell you, He has! The 20 miles came after 5 days of resting in the Lord.
Metaphor: My walk with the Lord is very similar to what I've experienced through my days of running. It requires training. It requires discipline. It requires surrender. It requires obedience. It requires humility. It requires patience. It requires trust. It requires faith. Hebrews 12: 1-2 "let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith who for the joy set before him endured the cross scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Why Part 2: I want God to be recognized through this. Soli Deo Gloria- to God alone be the glory! He deserves all the recognition for this. He should be awarded the medal.
Conclusion: The 20 mile run was amazing! Something I never experienced physically coupled with the most awesomest time of worship. I am grateful that the Lord has blessed me with SoHee and Stacey to run with, keeping each other encouraged through out the whole run. We sang worship songs the entire 2nd half of the run. With my hands lifted in the air, we ascribed to the Lord the glory and honor due to his name alone and sang the "Revelation Song." I was definitely on a runners high, praise God. Singing his promises and about his attributes helped me finish the run. I could sense his presence surround us so strongly. God is sooo good!
Thank you God, thank you!
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