Running with God

I could feel the coolness seeping through the window as I peered out at the snowy flakes drifting to the ground.  Occasionally they would swirl as a strong breeze whipped through them.  No sunshine.  No warmth.  No pretty flowers or leaves on the trees.  Nothing outside made a run look tempting.  I knew it wouldn't be my favorite run, but I knew the reward would be worth the work.  I laced my Saconys, took off my glasses, and opened the door, letting in a breathtaking gust of coldness. 

As I ran, snow flakes pelted my face and my eyes teared from the cold temperature.  The path became blurry, but that didn't stop me.  I raced on.  I knew where I was going.  I had run that path hundreds of times.  I knew every root, every rock, every dip, and every tree branch that arched over the trail at face level.  I didn't need a clear view of the path because I had received a clear view so many times before on those glorious spring and fall days when the sun reflected off the dew drops on the ground, making the grass glisten like diamonds.   I knew the trail.  I didn't need to see it clearly to run it.

My knowledge of the trail led me to ask myself if I had the same knowledge of God.  Did I know Him well enough that I could recognize His hand in my life even when the view was blurry?  Could I still trust His love for me even when my eyes filled with tears of disappointment?  Would I be able to press on in what He was calling me to do even when I felt life's difficulties pelting me in the face?  Do I know my God as well as I know my running trail? 

When I returned home and discarded my wet muddy running shoes and shed my damp jacket, I realized that I didn't know my running path the first time I ran it, or the twentieth time I ran it.  I learned each rock and each hill, only by running it, over and over and over again, even when I didn't want to.  Even when the cold threatened to take away my breath or the rain promised to leave me dripping.  I ran anyway, knowing the rewards would be worth the work.  So it is with God; a continual walk even when feelings are gone because we know the reward is worth the work.  Walking with God isn't always about the sunshine.  Sometimes we step through storms, but we never go alone.  And just as I've become familiar with my running trail because I've run it regularly rain, shine or snow, I've also come to know my King, a little more each day. 



Praise the LORD.  Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty heavens.  Praise Him for His acts of power; praise Him for His surpassing greatness.  Praise Him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise Him with the harp and lyre, praise Him with tambourine and dancing, praise Him with the strings and flute, praise Him with the clash of cymbals, praise Him with resounding cymbals.  Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.  Praise the LORD.  Psalm 150