running.

Running. Running. One step in front of the other. A fast song comes on, and I pick up my pace. Sweat drips down my face and my feet pound the track. Feelin' pretty good...

PHC has a really nice track that circles the basketball court on the floor above. Exercise really does make it easier to study and helps relieve a lot of stress, so I spend a lot of time there. Many a nights, you would find me with my iPod in, listening to my favorite songs and ignoring anyone near by as I dash around the track. But it doesn't always feel good.

Running, running... ooh. A sharp pain stabs under my ribcage like a knife. I put my hand up and press it as I run... gotta keep running... I can't let it stop me...

Side-aches, sore calves, and burning lungs are a given if you decide to run fast for any length of time. If you keep running, though it will hurt (a lot) for a time, the pain will eventually work itself out as you pick up your second wind. But you have to push through the initial pain. If you stop, the side-ache will return at the same time next time you run.

Well... there's a reason the Bible compares life to a long distance run.

Working, studying, eating, sleeping... One step in front of the other. Life picks up pace, and I speed up to keep up with it. Feelin' pretty good.

Life can feel pretty good... but it doesn't always feel good.

Sorrow stabs my heart like a knife, unexpected, sharp, and painful. I want to stop. Want to rest. Need to rest. But I gotta keep running... can't let it stop me.

Pain and sorrow are a given if you run the Christian race for any length of time. People you love come and go. Sometimes you're lonely. You will get weary. Rough days will come. But the pain won't last forever. You can't let it stop you... you have to keep running. Endurance comes to those who push through the pain.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."
(Hebrews 12:1-2)

And, just like you can know the second wind will come, there is a promise for those who press on.

"He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."
(Isaiah 40:29-31)

Life can be rough. God is faithful.

Press on.