Running the Race

We move from walking with God to the notion of considering what the bible says about running.

A good link between the idea of walking and running can be found in Isaiah 40:29-31 He gives power to those who are tired and worn out; he offers strength to the weak. Even youths will become exhausted, and young men will fall give up. But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.”

Here we find three concepts held within just a few words. We are to wait on the Lord. We are run and not grow weary. We are to walk and not faint. 

I must admit that running for many of us may seem a distant memory but what of the promised ability to run in God’s strength found here in Isaiah.

We may well ask in all our weariness, how do we get this promised strength? We may expect Isaiah to share the wisdom of physical rest, exercise, diet, and so forth. But while those are all God-given sources of strength, they cannot give us the deepest strength we need when we come to the end of ourselves. Isaiah acknowledges this—“even youths shall faint and be weary; and young men shall fall exhausted” (Isaiah 40:30). In other words, even those in their prime with perfect health have limits. We need a stronger strength to match our deep discouragements.

Billy Graham once said: "As an evangelist, I have often felt too far spent to minister from the pulpit to men and women who have filled stadiums to hear a message from the Lord. Yet again and again my weakness has vanished, and my strength has been renewed. I have been filled with God’s power not only in my soul but physically. On many occasions, God has become especially real, and has sent His unseen angelic visitors to touch my body to let me be His messenger for heaven, speaking as a dying man to dying men."

There is an old hymn that I has often run through my mind when I am exhausted and don’t know how to continue.

He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater,

He sendeth more strength as our labours increase;

To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,

To multiplied trials He multiplies peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,

When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,

When we reach the end of our hoarded resources

Our Father’s full giving is only begun.

His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,

His power no boundary known unto men;

For out of His infinite riches in Jesus

He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.

Even just mentally singing such words strengthens me, sets my feet on firmer ground and renews my intention to rely more upon God and less upon my own strength.

Strengthening God,

it has been told to us since the very beginning

that you are truly the Lord of all that is and ever shall be. 

You are the God of both the prince and pauper,

of feast and famine,

of the mighty and the weak —

and yet, you do not favour the strong over the powerless. 

Remind us of your love as we read the scriptures,

O God of True Justice. 

Open our eyes – open our hearts –

that we may be strengthened and renewed by your Word. Amen