Why I Run.

Okay, folks, let me get this out there…..

My love for running?

It’s intense.

Not a slobbery, angry face kind of intense.

More like a little school boy in love with his mini-skirted 5^th grade teacher googly-eyed love.

It’s intense.

You’d think I would often ponder why I love putting myself into pain for long periods of time… but honestly, I rarely think about “why”, I just “do”.

However, I have been trying to discover why I do and I’ve found two reasons.

-I was never inclined to run by any means [understatement] , but I’ve taught myself and I’ve improved. I am assuming there’s a little self-satisfaction and internal competition going on.

-I do become stressed and when things are outside of my control, perhaps my jaunt around town helps ease the tension.

I have never enjoyed extremely competitive…well, anything. Especially running. The anticipation of walking up the finish line, beginning, and expecting to beat lots of people has always made me want to throw up. And I have thrown up. And passed out. Just from the fear of competition. Uh, yeah…. No exaggeration.

What I do love is running without fear. Just a few weeks ago a ran a half-marathon with absolutely no expectations and did well. I did better then I ever thought I would do.

No fear of judgement? No fear of failure? I am able to do great things.

Give me a little pressure? Chunks will fly out of my mouth. No, really, they will. [I apologize for the visual]

Lately, there has been a change in my priorities in my purpose for running. And it all started a few months before I ran "well" at this little race. They two above reasons do still remain, but one has risen above the others.

I want to run for the glory of God.

Sure, I’ll never go to the Olympics or be a world-class athlete…. But I can try to praise Him through this small gift, this passion I’ve been given.

I started to think about this more when someone shared with me the quote from the 1981 film Chariots of Fire:

"I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure."

Perhaps the reason I have always loved to run is because God designed me to do this for his glory. I owe it all to Him.

And..I want to share this love. I want to worship Him while I’m moving. I want to stop moving so I can realize HE is greater. HE is stronger.

What I’ve come to understand with this outlook is that it takes the pressure off. Gonezo. There is none.

And… It’s because it’s not about me anymore.

(Hmmm… where have I heard that phrase before?)

What if I decided to let go of the tension between myself and every other person on the starting line and decided the most important thing is to give God the glory in my weakest and strongest moments. And what if I realized that everyone watching was only cheering me on?

All things I do are small  but God is so great. Let all I do be for Him.

“But to mean it when I say that I want my life to count for His glory is to drive a stake through the heart of self - a painful and determined dying to me that must be a part of every day I live.”
― Louie Giglio