Going Nowhere Fast...

Lately, I have been trying to run a few times each week to shed the "spare tire" around my waste that I have developed since being married.  Thankfully, I was given a free membership to the ETMC Olympic Gym next to our church for six months because they used our parking lot during their renovation process.

Treadmills are great pieces of workout equipment, especially the ones at the ETMC.  The are designed to allow you to run in an air conditioned environment, free from the wiles of the outside world. One can literally run dozens of miles without ever changing locations.  The ETMC treadmills are especially great because they have their own built in television so you can watch a program while you run.  It is the only thing that really keeps me sane while I do something that I utterly loathe.  (Although, my tolerance for running is growing.)

There is one thing about the ETMC treadmills that is a little more interesting than the television, however.  Each treadmill is lined up against windows that look out onto our church's 18 acre, currently empty, property.  While running, I can see the span of this wonderful land that God has set aside for our church.  I see the land in both it's current, empty state, but also the hope I have in it's future, occupied state.  Yesterday, I couldn't help but think to myself, "This treadmill is an analogy to how many have felt in our church for many years--doing tons of work, but never going anywhere."  Furthermore, it is an analogy to how many feel in the span of their lives.  We feel like we work, work, and work, but we never have anything to show for it.  I found myself running in place, looking out towards the hope that all of us have for the land God has provided, but never getting an inch closer to it.  I was "doing all the work," but "not going anywhere."  It seemed like I was living an illustration to how everyone feels at some point in their life.

Yesterday, I shared Hebrews 12:1 for its context of "[laying] aside every encumbrance and sin which so easily entangles us."  Today, I want to share the same verse, but focus on the phrase, "and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us."

God shared with me a message yesterday that I believe I already knew, I just had not comprehended it yet.  The message is: Everything that we are is for God's glory.  If He wants us to wait until we see the land used (in the church context), or achieve a certain goal (in the general context of life and ministry), then we should gladly wait.  Why?  Because we are doing it all for Him.  If it was for us and our own glory, then we would have every right to get frustrated and impatient about things not happening quicker.  Instead, the land, the growth of the church, and our efforts are directed towards glorifying Him.  If He wants us to wait, then we should wait because we are doing it for Him and not for ourselves, and He has a reason for it's timeline.  In essence, our efforts are not a sprint, but a race of endurance.  The idea is, we should "fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith."

Many of us feel that we are "going nowhere fast" because we don't have evidence to show progress.  I beg to differ.  As long as you are serving God and remaining faithful to Him, you are going, not "nowhere," but instead are treading on a path that marches towards God's plan.  I am learning that I would rather march with God, running towards Him with endurance, than sprinting through life achieving things for my own glory.