Running Against the Wind

So Saturday afternoon I went running. For those of you that don’t know, I’m training for a 5k. About a year and a half ago, I was in pretty good running shape and made my best 5k running time, but then a few months later I got lazy and then some other things got in the way and the running disappeared for the bit. Well, back and January, I decided that I really needed to get back out there running, but it wasn’t really until this month that I actually kicked myself in full force 5k mode… (Nike Plus is a HUGE help at the moment) So, Saturday I knew I needed to run since I didn’t run on Friday, so I laced up my shoes, stretched so that I could run at the current maximum capacity, planned my route in my head, and headed out. See, I didn’t know though that it windy outside. I knew it was cooler out (which was one of the reasons I definitely convinced myself to go), but I didn’t know that there was a wind factor going on… so I had been running for probably about half a mile or so, and suddenly, I found myself completely running against a very strong gust of wind. If you have never run against wind before, let me tell you, it is not an easy thing especially when you are going up a slight hill and the wind is strong… I heard about running against the wind in physics last year and how runners liked running with the wind and not against it, but at the time, I didn’t take that little message to heart. But, man running against the wind is really hard… (for those of you wondering before I move onto my point of this story, I finished the run with my best EVER outside run time and finished very very strong, I was very very proud of myself and my poor dog who was tired and was lagging behind a bit but she finished too) haha. 

The thing with running against the wind though is that it’s a force that you can’t see. You can feel it and it makes your run a whole lot harder, but you can’t actually see it. When I was running against the wind, a thought came to me (which is unusual because usually when I run, I’m completely in the running zone where I don’t think about much at all other than the beat of the music that is playing through my headphones to keep me going). Running against the wind is a lot like when we run against God. I’ve learned this personally on several different occasions, but one I remember specifically was back during the summer. I went on a trip with church this last summer to a camp at the beach down in Florida. Part of me was really excited to go on the trip, but part of me wasn’t so much because I knew none of the people that I really hung out with were going. But I felt pretty confident though- going to camp earlier that summer and having to make a bunch of new friends empowered me some to make some more new friends… but I’ll admit that I wasn’t so certain. 

But I remember that the first morning we were there, I was sitting out on the balcony because everyone else was still sleeping (as it’s usual for me to wake up way before everyone else) and I was enjoying the sunrise and just spending time with God, and God was laying out some things on my heart that I knew I needed to deal with eventually and I wrote God a letter that morning saying that EVENTUALLY I would get around to fixing some problems in my life. But that time was not going to be right now. 

A little bit later that day, maybe even a bit into the next day, I could feel God saying, you could fix some of this now; go take the first step. “No, God, I don’t think it’s a good time. I said I will fix it eventually- probably sometime when I get home. There’s really no rush on things.” “

“Morgan, go work on this. If you don’t start now, you probably won’t ever start fixing things.”

“No. I’m just fine. Thanks though.” 

That night we were sitting in small group time and God placed a complete weight on my heart. It literally felt like on my heart was a massive weight that was not going to go away unless I did something about it. I was completely fighting God, and in the end, I gave in. I honestly, at the time, wanted the weight to go away more than I wanted to fix what needed to be fixed. I was running against the wind. I can’t see God, but I can feel his effects and sometimes they can be a little painful. Things go much easier when you don’t fight God, and you follow his plan. I would end up fighting God a few more times, but I can honestly say that in the end, I’ve given in every time because I run out of strength to keep fighting. And now, I look around and things are so much better because it’s all fixed. Life is beautiful, truly beautiful. So, what are you going to do: fight the wind or take the easier way and follow God’s plan from the beginning?