Thinking bout running...

This was something i wrote a while ago, however i decided to post it here. I have gotten rid of my old blog but when i read this i felt that it was a keeper. I didn't do the marathon, but I am still running the race. (*BOOM*, you see what i did there...)
 
I have pondering the possibility of doing a half marathon lately. And at first I was highly excited and my prayers to God were filled with a sense of knowing that if God gave me the strength to do this that I would be so victorious.  Then one day, as I was sitting at my desk and I was going over in my mind what it would be like to actually go through with it, I decided to go to the Nike ID website and design a special shoe that would be oh so cool looking to run across the finish line. As I was designing this shoe and pondering the possibility of the race suddenly thoughts of failure popped up in my head.  What if I can’t finish? What if I get to the month of August and I still can’t run? What if I quit and people say “I told you so”? What if I actually make it to the race and I get injured? What if fail? While looking for a specific verse to counter these thoughts and put across the back of the shoe I came across my currently favorite verse Isaiah 54:15. I actually like the whole passage (15-18) but I can only have 5 characters on the back so I decided on I5415, the verse reads, “If anyone does attack you, it will not be my doing; whoever attacks you will surrender to you.”  And I thought to myself what does this mean to me and why would I have this on the back of a race shoe? If someone asked me why what would my response be, so then I came to this thought:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Eph.6:12.
The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2Corinth. 10:4,5

I doubted myself and I hadn’t even started.  I doubted my prayers to God and I haven’t even given him the opportunity to show up. I knew then that the enemy was trying to get me to quit before I started but I wondered why? Of all the struggles in life that he could attack (not that he doesn’t) but why this? Why something as simple as a marathon? I want to run, not go to a race to save souls, I just want to lose some weight and possible stay in a swanky hotel and get a pretty sweet medal.
Then I felt like I was lead to this thought.  When I am faced with doubt I resort to what I know. The first thing to go out of the window is my trust in Christ. I got back to trying to do that which I am comfortable doing which are normally things that I think I can do in my own strength. When doubt comes, I forget who I am in Christ and rely on my flesh to accomplish things that only my spirit can conquer. This in turn puts me at a huge disadvantage because my strength comes from the joy of the lord, not my own will.  The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy.  He starts with the little insignificant things and uses those things that seem meaningless to get his foot in the door. Then once that happens, and I turn to my own devices which are poor at best, I am left with my defenses down and he can then sneak in other areas of my life. Just think, if he can cause me to doubt my ability to do something as simple as running a race and that God can give me the ability to be victorious in that, If I give in to that thought that I can’t do it, then what happens when something else comes along that may be more challenging that a race? What about when I have to boldly take a stand for Christ and rely on the Holy Spirit to go before me, what then? What will I do when I have to stand on the truth of God in front of those who will mock me and try to shame me with the actions of my past? If I give in to his taunts now how much more strong will they become in the future?
Right before I had the ability to linger on those thoughts for too long the Holy Spirit stepped in and told me who I was.  He told me that I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:22), and that because I can do all things through Christ who Strengthens me (Philippians 4:13), if I choose to do this race all that my come with it and anything that may come after will not defeat me. Because I have chosen to put my faith in Jesus that I am more than a conquer (Romans 8:37).

I am the disciple that Jesus loves and I have been made co-heir with Christ so if anybody ask me why I have I5415 on my shoe it is because when Satan tries to attack me with doubt and fear of failure that I am reminded that it does not come from my King, and that I will be victorious and it will be under my feet. It was my King that created all things including the destroyer and because I have been called by name to be the beloved of the most high no weapon forged against me will prevail and anything that tries to accuse me I will refute victoriously. THAT is my heritage because I am a servant of the Lord, and this is my vindication according to the word of God.
So, take that devil with your trickery and foolery, too bad for you my God is so much bigger!

No fear in life, no guilt in death this is the power of Christ in me. From life’s first cry to final breath Jesus commands my destiny!