Today as I was running I received a cool revelation from the Lord as I was pleading for help finishing my exercise and so I felt like sharing it with you all. Much like Michigan summers it is 90+ degrees out today and the humidity has the air feeling more like maple syrup than something I am intended to breath. I was tired from running yesterday and working out and quite frankly I didn’t think I had it in me today to finish what I had started. Before I began my run I did what I always do, I set a goal or an expectation for myself and then I set out to achieve that goal. Today my goal was to run 30 minutes. I didn’t care how far I ran or how fast I ran just that I kept one foot in front of the other and kept on running for 30 minutes straight. To me this situation is much like life however we don’t always get to set the expectations. Sometimes it is our kids or our spouse, or maybe it is work or organizations we volunteer with. Whatever it is everyday we wake up with expectations on our lives that we feel pressured to achieve and often times like today before my run we are left with the feeling “well I might just not make it today, I don’t think I have it in me”. Yet we get up go about our day and see just how long we can make it before we feel like we can go no further.
I was doing pretty good on my run today until about the 18 minute mark. I had passed my halfway marker and new that the finish was not far off but in the moment it seemed like it was light years away. It may sound goofy but I enjoy submitting myself to physical trials because I think that in these challenges I get the opportunity to invite the Lord into my struggles even if I make the scenario exist on my accord. It is some what like fasting in that I could give up if I wanted to or I could invite God into the situation and ask Him to carry me on wings like eagles. I get to ask that He would deliver me to that finish line that is lightyears away or approx .6 miles for those more familiar with the imperial system of measurement. He loves to be needed and for us to seek Him, after all He calls himself a jealous God. So today as I was suffering I spent the time communing with the Lord and sure as always He proved faithful and gave me a second wind that urged me on to my finish line. With over 28 minutes in my run I had made it back to where I had started and began to think to myself “ahhh we made it and with time to spare I can quit early, I didn’t even need 30 minutes”. But then I heard the Lord remind me that I had set a goal and put an expectation on myself of running 30 minutes despite the distance. I felt urged to hold to my initial challenge for myself and continue on my run. It was almost like the Lord was saying to me that if I always only aim to meet the expectations put on me I will be ok but also that He has so much greater in store for us than just what we are expecting.
I don’t know about you all but to me an expectation is sort of like the bare minimum. An expectation is when someone measures your aptitude for a given task and says this is the result I would assume you will create. Sort of like saying if you are operating under your own strength and with your own power this is what I would expect you to produce. However this is not what we are called to in our life with Christ because with Him we do not operate under our own strength. He constantly calls us to live above expectations especially the very low standard of expectations that are set on us by todays standards. Unfortunately in the world we live in today basic moral concepts are no longer considered expectations. We as believers should all be striving to surpass expectations but we should have this perspective because we have the Holy Spirit in us and we do not have to do it alone. So in my run I had reached what I thought I could produce and I was ready to quit. But I had called on the Lord to get me that far and today He wanted to show me that he could take me further. At first a palm tree in the distance was the new goal and then beyond that a large archway marking the entrance to a beach. Before I knew it I not only had met my expectation of running 30 minutes I had run further than that by a few minutes.
While this is no life shattering physical feat it was an opportunity for the Lord to show me what happens when we invite Him into our challenges. It was a reminder that when I am feeling weak and like I can not live up to expectations, I don’t have to. I can call on His name and ask him for strength and provision to get me to my finish line. And I think today He wanted to show me that when I am obedient and remember to ask Him first for support He honors that by providing for us in abundance. He wants to be invited into your hardships and challenges in life. After all we must remember what Jesus says in Matthew 11:28-30. “Come to me all who are weary and burdened… you will find rest… (you) will learn from me… my yoke is light.” So I would like to encourage you to invite Him into any and all of your burdens. There is no burden to big or small for the Lord, He wants to be apart of every moment of your life. So wether you need help finishing a run or just getting through the day call on the Lord and watch Him carry you not only to your finish line but beyond all expectations that you have.
