Give it your all

I do not like running! Three years ago I competed in my first 5k race because I told my kids I would. I started off the race running as hard as I could like I thought everyone else was doing not realizing that 3.1 miles is ahella long way. About 3 blocks in I was out of gas. I wanted to quit right there. At the one mile mark after going up one of the sickest hills in town I knew I could not finish this stupid race. At the 1.5 mile turn around two women, HEROS, came back to where I was at when I totally gave up and said, “No man left behind, you are gonna finish.” We walked slow, stopped a couple times, and just to show me I could they even made me jog a little bit here and there. By the time I was half a mile from the finish line, my son and all his friends came back to walk along side and even behind me. I DID IT! I finished my first 5k and I hated it. I even received a metal for 3^rd place in my age group despite finishing the race dead last, guess how many were in my age group.

Since then I have completed in numerous races and fun runs, still not liking running and usually walking most of the 5k but finishing every one. Again I don’t do these because I like them, I do them for a much bigger reason. I learned in my first 5k that I could accomplish things that I worked hard at and had the right support to do. I have since completed one college degree and in a few months will receive my second. I have found a career path that I would have never been able to get into on my own but through hard work and encouragement I have been blessed. I have become a calmer person, a better father, a more caring husband, and a nicer friend. These races have not changed my mind about running but they have changed my heart about give it my all.

This morning as I write this I wonder if I have given it my all, have I given my  training for each race my all, have I put my all into my school work, have I given it all to my Daddy, God, who has given everything to me? I can honestly say NO but I am training to do so and it all starts with one race. Getting ready for the Haslanger Classic in 10 days where it all began and its training time.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 1 Corinthians 9:24

Can you believe that?

Many people know God, or of Him. But here is the hard question, do you believe God is who He says He is?

God is omniscience; all-knowing

God is omnipresence; all-present and all seeing

God is omnipotence; all-power

OK so that clears it up, right?

In Job 21:22 we see that no one can teach God, “Can anyone teach God knowledge, In that He judges those on high?” And in Isaiah 40:13-14 we find out that God needed no one to create for He created everything in His own knowledge. No counsel, committees, rocket scientists, or gurus were needed for God for He knew how to do everything. Can you believe that?

Psalm 139:7-12 tells us that God is with us in Heaven, and on Earth, in every dark corner, or every well lit up church. God is with us when we sit in a bar, when we go for a walk, and when we yell at our wife or kids. In Jeremiah 23:23-24 we read "Am I a God who is near," declares the LORD, "And not a God far off? “Can a man hide himself in hiding places so I do not see him?" declares the LORD. "Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?" declares the LORD.” God is watching us everywhere because He is always there. Can you believe that?

Matthew 19:26 says; “But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” With God’s power all things are possible. Just check out Luke 1:37. Luke lays it down just as simple by saying, “For nothing will be impossible with God.” Can you believe that?

So here is the challenge, we know God and even who He is but I suspect, myself included, that at times we don’t believe He is who He says He is. So if God is all-knowing, today have no fear or anxiety because God knows what’s best for you, just follow His lead. And if God is always watching and present, don’t feel lonely or depressed because a simple prayer can offer a huge bear hug from arms that circle everything. And since God is all powerful go for your dreams. If they are rooted in a faith and belief in Him and you give the glory and honor to Him where it belongs, you can’t fail because NOTHING is impossible with God. Believe that!