Once the half marathon was over, I was feeling pretty accomplished. I had really stretched myself and done something I could be proud of, for years to come. So I rewarded myself with a break, but there is no such thing as a break when it comes to discipline...not really. Before I knew it, with the exception of the occasional run here and there, I stopped running altogether. Even now, I am sitting here thinking that I should be hitting that pavement, but I digress.
I recently signed up and trained for a 5K. Having run 13.1 miles in the past, I thought I was pretty much in the clear, no big deal. So I started training a couple of weeks before the race, not bothering to check my mileage because I had mapped out a mile on the course I was running a couple of years ago. Plus I was confident in my ability to internally gauge a mile's distance(even though I hadn't run in a while). So I started increasing my mileage, using the mile marker I had set up as a guide. As I went along, it was 1 mile the first day, then 1.5 the second, 2 the third and so on. The last training day before the race, I decided to turn on my Nike+ mileage app on my phone, to record my time during my run. I started running and as I approached the mile marker that I had been running to for the past few weeks, I noticed that my phone wasn't saying anything. Now, the app lets you know when you've run a full mile by a robotic voice calling out "1 mile complete, X miles left to go." With no call out, I thought, 'something must be wrong.' So I pulled out my phone and sure enough, it told me that I was still 0.03 miles away from completing a full mile. Now, I know you are probably thinking, 'that's not that big of a deal,' but it actually is and let me tell you why. A 5K is 3.11 miles and so being off by 0.03 per mile, means that I was actually off by almost 0.1 miles total. If you have ever run a race that is 3.1 or 13.1, you know that the last 0.1 of the race is the most difficult. It's the part of the race that can trip you up. I know, because I didn't train for the last 0.1 mile the first time and let me tell you what, after you have run 13 miles, all you want to do is sit down, but you can't because you still have 0.1 miles to go and if you want to finish strong (especially since all of the people watching your race congregate at the finish line), that's the most important part of the race!
My running experience can be likened to our walk with the Lord. You see, the way I set myself up for training was faulty. Instead of making sure that the course I had set out for myself was a true mile, I went by my interpretation of what it felt like to run a mile. It was faulty because it was based on my experience, on my recollection of my past, and on my feelings. In church leadership I think a lot of times we are doing the same thing. We know something so well, or have done it for so long that we forget or just don't stop to check ourselves and reevaluate if whether the guide we're using, is actually on point or not. I'm not talking about being perfect, because none of us are, but I am talking about perfecting your complete dependence on the Lord. You see, even just missing the mark by a small amount can add up over time. And what is the mark? Doing it God's way. One day we're doing things the way we feel that God has shown us to do them, and instead of consistently checking in with God, before you know it, we've made God into a formula. When we input A, God outputs B, and we don't like that messed with. Well, God works by laws, absolutely, but we cannot even dream of understanding to the full, the laws that govern God. Sometimes God wants us to input B so He can output C but you can only know that if you are depending on Him for your course direction. He doesn't want us to run according to what we know, that's the whole point. We must continually draw near to His heart to find out His road map. Mile markers aren't the same in the spiritual realm as they are on earth because they aren't measuring literal distance as we understand it. They are measuring whether or not the plan that God has for our lives is coming to pass. When we set up our own distance goals, we may not be getting as far as we think we are. God's our mileage counter: the ultimate truth about the spiritual distance we are logging.
As a Christian, we are constantly growing in His likeness. Doesn't it then make perfect sense that God would reveal new ideas and ways of doing things? It's like the children of Israel in the wilderness. There's a reason that God told them not to keep the manna from the day before. Yesterday's manna was for yesterday. Today's manna is for today. What does God want to give us today? Especially as church leaders, our methods of doing things change because the people we are doing them with change. Even if you've worked side-by-side with a person for 50 years, that person is changing and growing. We can't keep doing what we've always done. God has a word for this hour, for this time, for this season. He knew what this season would look like before you were even a thought, and He provided for you way back then. He put people in place and plans into motion for today long before you even knew you'd be here. He is God, after all.
God wants to mess with your mile markers so you can finish strong. God's plan is not based on our knowledge of the plan, but our dependence on the one who formulated the plan. When we've done something for God, it's not the end, it's the beginning. We have to go back and reevaluate, recheck, and reorganize with God. Our past does not have to be our future and God has the perfect training regimen to help you finish strong in your race!
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