Races aren’t cheap.
In fact, every time I sign up for one, I think to myself…
“Self… Am I really paying money to someone else for ME to then show up and run?”
But something happens in my head once I’ve paid the price.
I make the decision to finish.
I don’t register for a 5K thinking that I might show up.
I don’t sign up for 10K thinking that I might train for it.
I don’t pay for a half-marathon thinking that I might complete the course.
I enter the race because I want to run, or walk, or crawl across the finish line.
So when I fell… as embarrassed as I was, it didn’t take me long to think my way out of a funk.
Once I realized that
…I wasn’t bleeding
…nothing was broken
…I was still alive…
I got up and kept moving.
The race was paid for.
I didn’t want the price I paid to go to waste.
All I had to do was keep going.
Here’s the thing.
My life is not cheap.
There was a cost required to redeem my soul from the grips of sin and death.
I was reminded as were millions of others this past Sunday, that Jesus paid it all.
I am bought with a price.
The cost of my race has already been taken care of.
…All I have to do is run.
…All I have to do is finish.
…All I have to do is get up when I find that I’ve tripped and fallen – and keep going.
And I don’t know about you but many times I get so discouraged that I’ve landed on my face… again.
It’s almost like I just decide at various times to do random gravity checks.
For no good reason other than my own humanity I just fail.
But, despite my failures, something happens when I look at my journey on the earth in the light of the cross.
Everything I need to be a finisher has already been done. I just have to keep moving until I reach the finish line.
That doesn’t mean I won’t fall or that I won’t be tired or that I won’t want to quit.
It does serve as a reminder however that when I started this race, I intended to see it through to the end.
I made a decision to finish.
So don’t let your failure define how you finish.
Your failure may be something that happens to you or because of you.
But your failure does not comprise the essence of who you are.
And we all fall.
We all get tired.
There are times for all of us when we want to quit.
Many of us which that we could start over, repair past mistakes, remake poor decisions.
That’s not a choice that we have available to us.
But we can start new from where we stand today.
But if Resurrection Sunday does nothing else, it should remind us of our reason to dust ourselves off from whatever situation we might have found ourselves and keep moving to our finish.
It’s your race.
Run well.
And if you find yourself on the unexpectedly with your face to the pavement, it’s not too late to make the decision to finish.
Get up.
Keep going.
Because Someone who loves you very much got up too.
Don’t let the price He paid go to waste.
“For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God…” ~ 1 Corinthians 6:20
Your failure may be something that happens to you or because of you.
But your failure does not comprise the essence of who you are.
And we all fall.
We all get tired.
There are times for all of us when we want to quit.
Many of us which that we could start over, repair past mistakes, remake poor decisions.
That’s not a choice that we have available to us.
But we can start new from where we stand today.
But if Resurrection Sunday does nothing else, it should remind us of our reason to dust ourselves off from whatever situation we might have found ourselves and keep moving to our finish.
It’s your race.
Run well.
And if you find yourself on the unexpectedly with your face to the pavement, it’s not too late to make the decision to finish.
Get up.
Keep going.
Because Someone who loves you very much got up too.
Don’t let the price He paid go to waste.
“For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God…” ~ 1 Corinthians 6:20
Oh Chrystal, thank you so much for sharing these words. I needed to hear them so! *getting up off the pavement now…
This really blessed me today. Thank you Chrystal. You are such an inspiration.
Thank you for sharing this!!! Been on the pavement for a few weeks trying to figure out if I even WANT to get up. This reminder was perfect! Bless you!
Thank you so much for this today ive been wanting to quit since after all ive already missed the mark
That’s one of Satan’s greatest tools… to convince us that we should get up because we’ve already messed up. But it doesn’t have to get worse! We can change direction if we choose. Glad you were encouraged.
Thanks for the encouragement today! Feeling overwhelmed this morning with a never ending to do list but I’m gonna keep running. God Bless You for your obedience!
I was just sitting here at my desk wanting to give up. I’ve traveled a difficult road and have been walking through the healing process from unspeakable childhood trauma for three years now and I’m tired. Your encouragement to “keep going” and “Don’t let the price he paid go to waste” is what I needed to hear this morning as I contemplated death.
Thanks for your words!
I may not have walked in your shoes. But I have definitely walked in my own and been very VERY tired. I get it. I figure every person who runs a marathon at some point wants to quit and just walk off the course. But they just keep putting one foot in front of the other. One step at a time. You can do it. Walk through the hard stuff. Morning will always come. We just have to have faith in it’s arrival when we are facing the darkness of night. Praying for you Amy.
Thank you for this post! Today I wanted to quit my race, but your words have inspired me to keep going. God bless you!
Keep going! So glad you are encouraged!
I really REALLY needed this today, Crystal. I was frozen in bed this morning with some paralizing thoughts about things I regret and with questions of why God didn’t intervene and save me from those events. He had encouraged me through the day, and part of it was from Philippians about running the race and pressing on. Thank you for sharing this part of your story and for your encouraging reminder. What a perfect way to end this day and start tomorrow with these truths in my heart and mind. Thanking God for His faithfulness and for His children whom He uses.
Awesome. Go grateful to hear how God shared a continuous message of grace and love to you today.