“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.” 1 Corinthians 9:24

Tall and lean, the young woman passed me at a fast pace at the second-mile marker on my morning run. I looked up to watch the increasing distance between us and felt tempted to speed up.

“Nope. Don’t go there, missy.” I muttered under my breath.

I knew from recent experience that increasing my pace would only lead to one of two things: not being able to reach my 3-mile goal, or, worse yet, not being able to walk the next day. Sigh.

Yet, as I looked at the young gazelle once more, the competitive athlete trapped inside this aging shell wanted to catch up and pass her.

Fortunately, wisdom won, and I kept a steady pace. I shook off the distraction and continued listening to the excellent podcast playing in my ear.

It wasn’t long until I spotted Young Gazelle again. This time, she was walking. Pretty slowly, I must add.

“Hmmm. She must have ended her run.” I thought.

As I passed her, I could hear the heavy breathing. She was drenched in sweat and continued to walk through the track slowly. I kept at my steady pace, proudly passing the 20-something-year-old girl. It wasn’t long before I heard the steady steps behind me again. She was once more running at lightning speed, passing me as she did.

And then she stopped.

Again, I passed her panting self and finished my 3.5-mile run that day.

This “race” between the two of us got me thinking.

I started running not long ago after many years of inactivity. Whether due to the busyness of raising two young children, several health issues that prevented me from exercising consistently, or plain laziness, exercising was not a priority for the past decade. And then, as a new big birthday approached, I felt motivated to challenge my body to get in better shape.

The process started slowly, inspired by a good friend who is close to my age and started running in her late 40’s as well. I saw her posts on Social Media and asked if she would mentor me. To her surprise, I made it good on my word and showed up at the park for our first walk together, almost six months ago.

Following her advice, I downloaded the Couch-to-5k app (C25K), started walking, and then walking and running. The program slowly increased the time I spent running until, almost three months into the process, I was able to run for 3 miles non-stop.

“Slowly but surely.” That’s how I have been able to reach my first goal in this newfound challenge.

The woman that passed me that morning reminded me of my young self. Eager, rushed, anxiously pushing past my limits. But as I get older (and hopefully wiser), the Lord has been showing me that, most of the time, it is by slowing down and not rushing through the process that I can accomplish His purposes for my life.

Oh, don’t get me wrong – I’ve known that, all along. But the truth is – patience has never been one of my natural virtues. Countless times have I rushed through life, carelessly disregarding the pressure I was putting on my body and soul. The result was always the same: stress, anxiety, defeat.

Can anyone relate?

Can you testify of the many wrecks caused by lack of patience? #RechargeWednesday #Linkup #Impatience
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We want to lose weight and often dive into crash diets, eager to drop the pounds that were added through many years of lack of discipline. Instead of slowly changing bad habits and replacing them with good ones, we rush towards that feel-good moment when the scale quickly moves down… only to move up again a few months later.

We dread loneliness and rush into relationships that often take us far from God’s best for our lives.

We look at the person beside us at work, ministry, or friend group, and mimic their choices or push hard to “pass” them, only to realize it: that was supposed to be their rhythm, not ours.

We compare, rush to keep up… and then…crash.

Is that you today, my friend?

Could impatience be pushing you towards a lane that is not yours?

Could it be that the glimmer that comes from the life of that person you admire in ministry tempts you to rush out of your cadence and mimic theirs?

Could it be that the void in your heart pushes you into the arms of the wrong person, instead of trusting the embrace of your Savior?

Could it be that the devil’s lies have anchored your heart in a vicious and self-deprecating cycle?

“If I don’t do ‘X’, I’ll never succeed.”

“Look at ( )! I must speed up to catch them. I’m falling behind!”

“I can’t rest. I can’t slow down.”

“I will never accomplish ‘X’ unless I do ‘Y’ and ‘Z.”

Have you noticed how self-centered these thoughts can be?

For any time we step outside of our God-given pace, we give room for the famous trio “me, myself and I” to take over. “If I don’t…” “If I do…” “I…I…I…”

We lean on our own understanding instead of “trusting God, acknowledge Him in all our ways, and wait for Him to direct our paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6 paraphrased).

So, here’s a challenge for you and me today:

If you find yourself “racing” to keep up with the person in front of you, I pray you stop, and spend some time with the Master. Leave YOUR plans, your understanding, your timing, your ways, your desires at the foot of the cross.

For as you do, He will guide you to follow the path and pace He designed for you, at this point in your life, lest you give up – breathless, burdened and broken – before crossing the finish line.

“You are you. Now, isn’t that pleasant?” – Dr. Seuss

You are you. Now, isn’t that pleasant? – Dr. Seuss #RechargeWednesday #Linkup
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LINKUP party is Open! A run in the park got me thinking about the almost irresistible tendency we often have to strive to keep up with someone else's pace. Join us and share your blog!
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Thomas Edison. Colonel Sanders. Dr. Seuss. Walt Disney. Vincent Van Gogh. Albert Einstein. Helen Keller. Michael Jordan.

If I were to ask anyone to ascribe common adjectives to describe these famous figures, the words “successful” and “persistent” would probably appear on top of the list.

Thomas Edison, the man who revolutionized the world by inventing the light bulb, is known to have failed before succeeding — 1,000 times! Colonel Sanders was rejected repeatedly as he drove around the country, sleeping in his car and knocking on doors trying to promote his famous fried chicken recipe. Beloved author Dr. Seuss had his first book refused by 27 publishers. Vincent Van Gogh sold only one of his 800-plus paintings during his lifetime. Walt Disney was fired from a Missouri newspaper for “not being creative enough.” Six-foot-6-inch Michael Jordan was cut from his high school varsity basketball team his sophomore year for being a mediocre player at 5 foot, 11 inches tall. Albert Einstein did not speak fluently until he was about 9, causing teachers to think he was slow. He was later refused admittance to the Zurich Polytechnic Institute. Helen Keller could not see or hear. And yet, she persevered in creating her own communication systems and became a renowned author, lecturer and political activist.

We applaud their success and benefit from their genius. We cite them as icons of resilience and laud them as the crème de la crème in their field. But if you look at each of these people’s early life, you will see that rejection haunted them until someone believed in them. Thus, many of history’s “greats” were deemed insignificant, inadequate and sometimes even mad. They were almost missed, simply because those around did not look past their awkwardness, flaws or handicap, to realize that there was more than what met the eye.

Scriptures are filled with misfits as well. Men and women who were often viewed as unfit to be used, and yet, their stories of faith and trust in God have inspired and encouraged us for thousands of years.

Perhaps one of Scriptures’ greatest examples of an apparent inadequate and initially overlooked character is David, the shepherd boy turned king.
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Israel, in her rebellion against God and desire to fit in with the surrounding nations, begged God for a king. God led the prophet Samuel to appoint Saul – a handsome, tall and strong man. Saul had the pedigree, looks, knowledge and capability to become a great king; however, his outward strength hid a weak character and idolatrous nature. After giving him chance after chance, God rejected Saul as king, and directed Samuel to anoint the next Jewish leader.

The prophet was led to Bethlehem of Judea, to the house of Jesse — a sheep breeder and devout Jew from the tribe of Judah.

Jesse had eight sons. When Samuel laid eyes on Jesse’s firstborn, he was certainly impressed. He thought to himself: “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.” But Scriptures say that God redirected Samuel’s focus immediately: “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:6-7) Next, Jesse paraded seven of his sons before the prophet, none of which turned out to be God’s choice. It wasn’t until Samuel inquired if Jesse had any more sons that the patriarch thought of David.

An afterthought. The stinky, frail, shepherd boy was not even in his father’s radar! And yet, he was God’s chosen one. The very one rejected by society’s standards as a lowly shepherd and overlooked by those closer to him for his youth and small frame, became the king from whose lineage Israel’s Messiah would come.

Yes. A list of history’s “greats” would be incomplete without several Bible personalities, certainly including the young shepherd boy whose small frame inspired mockery, but whose character stood a head taller than everyone else.

When resilience meets a clean heart and strong faith, the result is a life that conquers limitations, defies the norm and can even be used by God to accomplish the impossible.
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This article was originally published on Patricia’s column for The Atlanta Journal Constitution on Saturday – August 18, 2018.

The post God Loves to Use the Unlikely & Inadequate {The Atlanta Journal Constitution} appeared first on Soaring With Him Ministries.