running and God

(some of the places ive run over the years)

I used to hate running… until the summer I lived in Brazil in 2003. I stayed with a family in a very small apartment.. For a spoiled American the icy cold showers were unbearable. So to fix this “problem” I came up with a brilliant idea: get all sweaty and hot then jump in the shower and it will feel amazing. Thus, begun my daily routine of running on the beaches of Brazil. After 10 minutes I would return, pouring out sweat and gasping for water. The family would simply say, “done already?” But the cold showers became my reward. Which lead to my motivation to keep running.

I started out using running with a goal in mind: to lessen the intensity of coldness of my showers. But somewhere along the way I began to fall in love with it. I began to actually enjoy it for what it was in itself.

I think sometimes people kind of look at God how I looked at running. When you first start out seeking God, it is usually seeking him for what he can do for you. He can give you blessings or fix your problems. There is an end in mind and God is the vehicle to get you there. But somewhere along the way you begin to fall in love with him. You begin to actually enjoy him for who he is in himself.

I fell in love with running so much that summer that I have done it for the past 7 years almost on a daily basis minus traveling and sickness, not because it will get me a good shower anymore, just because I love it and enjoy it. But the side affect is that the consistency has built strength and endurance in my body. I can run for an hour now compared to the 10 minutes that limited me in the beginning.

When we begin to seek God on a daily basis because of love and enjoyment of him, we find that the side affect is growth and endurance in our character. And the pattern goes like this: we feel weaker yet are made stronger, we suffer yet have peace, experience pain yet receive healing, endure trials yet develop perseverance, we learn discipline yet we’re set free, we see how sinful we are, yet how loved we are, we have many sorrows yet receive greater joy.

God is not a means to an end, we don’t seek him to get a reward, we seek him because he IS the reward. When we see that he sought us, sent Jesus, his son to die for us, not because we could do something for him, but just because he loved us for who we are ourselves, we in turn are drawn to seek him not for what he can get us, but for who he is himself. Blessing most certainly comes, but it isn’t the goal anymore. Day after day and year after year we will only fall more in love with the one who loves and enjoys us.