Christian Living

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Dear Matilda Grace,



While running your race, there are times when you just want to give up. The track looks too long and winding, the Finish line too far, the trophy seems so unimportant now, and suddenly you’re wondering... just what are you running for?



And so you start slowing down your pace.

You feel tired. Things don’t seem to be going your way. You wish there’s a shortcut to the Finish line. The words you used to encourage others with now sound so hollow in your own ears. People around you don’t seem to care, while those who do don’t seem to understand. Even God seems unreachable, it’s as if He’s changed His number and never bothered to tell you.



At this point, your past mistakes seem magnified, while the future looks blurred. And so you stop running. You’re out of breath. Out of energy. Out of the will to run.

And this is when we want you to remember that we believe in you. We may not have run your race, no one else can, but we have run that part of our own races where we wonder what we’re running for. So take a look at the crowd where we’re cheering you on and rooting for you, because we know you have it in you.



Then take a look around at the other runners.



There are those who run haphazardly because they keep looking back over their shoulders. They keep falling because they couldn’t foresee the obstacles ahead.

Some runners look drained and run much slower than the rest because they’re carrying a lot of baggage on their backs, burdens they should not be carrying while running a race yet they cannot let go.

And then there are many who are not getting very far from where they started because they’re running on the spot. They only move from the same spot when other runners help to push them forward, otherwise they’re too fearful of the obstacles ahead and don’t believe that they can run like the others.

A few disqualify themselves from the race, defeated by discouragement as other runners whiz past by them and that the race is harder than they expected. Some also think the race is making them sweaty, unattractive and unpopular to those watching from the sidelines. So they choose to leave the race and join the spectators instead because it’s easier to just watch.



But there are some who run in a steadfast pace with their eyes on the Finish line and looking fit. And you know these are the runners who will make it. Sometimes they do have to stop but only to help up their fellow runners who fall along the way or those who need a little push. That’s how you should run.

Because there are many who are standing at the sidelines watching those of you who run. While some are inspired enough to want to join in the race, others are still doubtful and in unbelief. This is why you run.



Just because you sometimes find it hard to reach God doesn’t make Him unreachable. He’s the one who keeps you wondering, made you stop running for a while so you can look beyond your ‘self’ and start looking around at others. He allows you to question so that He can renew your purpose and remind you that it’s not about you.

He was there in the beginning, there with you as you run, and will be there at the end. THIS race is marked out for you so run it with perseverance. The crown that awaits you at the end is worth it all. That’s what you’re running for. So stay in the race, keep running, and it ain’t over till He says it’s over.

[1 Corinthians 9: 23 - 27]



Love,

Your parents who have “been there, done that” so that, hopefully, you don’t have to.

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