In the running community, there is something known as a PR – a personal record. In running, you can really only compete against yourself by improving your time. It always feels good to set a PR, to be better than you were yesterday or at the last race.
Yesterday afternoon was gorgeous. It was 68 degrees and the sun was shining. It was a beautiful day for an after school run. Typically these are days that I have a good run. It feels good, my times are good, I hit negative splits. But, nope, yesterday was not one of those days.
I was running along and my pace was getting slower and slower. Which is incredibly frustrating. While I don’t set a PR with every run, I diligently try to hit negative splits on all of my runs – each mile is faster than the previous one. But that was not happening yesterday. Everything was hard, my legs hurt, I could feel myself getting a stitch. I really just wanted to walk, but I could hear Joshua saying, “Mom, no matter how slow you are running, keep running. Don’t walk.”
I tried to figure out what was causing my slower pace – was it too warm, did I not drink enough water today, was it the wind. I couldn’t decide if it was one thing or several factors. Then I realized, it didn’t really matter what was causing it; it wouldn’t change my frustration over the fact that I felt like a turtle slogging through peanut butter.
“Well,” I thought to myself, “today is not going to be a PR.” I was about to hit the halfway point and was considering just quitting. I was thinking to myself at least I got in half a run. I’ll just go home and get started on dinner.
Then it hit me – not everyday is a PR. Some days we just have to finish the run, whether it looks pretty or not.
That made me start thinking about life. Some days are just hard. There might not be a reason why or there might be several factors that contribute to those tough days. Regardless, there are tough days.
Not everyday of life will be a PR.
Hebrews 12 has become one of my favorite passages in the last few years. Verse 1 says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”
“Let us run with perseverance.” We are not called to make everyday a PR, we are called to persevere. Yesterday’s run was tough, but yesterday’s run doesn’t decide what today’s run will be like.
Maybe yesterday was rough for you – the children wouldn’t behave and you had to correct them constantly all day. Or maybe the boss was demanding and you just couldn’t seem to please him or her. Maybe you and your spouse had a fight, and you are struggling to work through it. Perhaps you work harder and harder and just never seem to be able to make ends meet.
Know that God sees your race, and He sees how you persevere. He is delighted by the way you keep fighting; your refusal to give up when you are tired and drained.
God isn’t expecting you to set a PR everyday. He just wants you to keep trusting Him and pushing forward.
Keep going. For today, just take the next step and trust. One day, we will stand before Him. I want to be able to say what Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:7-8, “ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”
With Eyes on the Cross 