I Just Can't Run Far Enough

Oddly enough my favorite form of exercise is running. I say oddly because running was so often a form of punishment in the sports I grew up playing. However, I have found it to be the fastest way to get my heart rate up, get a good sweat, and enjoy the outside air. For a long time running was a task to marked off, a means to an end. But I have come to realize that running is therapeutic in multiple ways, both good and bad.

Running is great for the heart, but bad for the knees. It is good for the lungs, but torture on my lower back. Running facilitates weight loss, but also skinned knees! This two-sided effect can be felt beyond the physical body. I run to find time for myself. It is here that I can focus on one task and nothing more. There are not emails to be answered or chores to be done. The pressures of life seem so distant when your priority is the next breath. It is so often in running that I find peace. If there are physical side effects, then there are emotional side effects. Often the run around the block is less practical and more metaphorical, meaning that I am actually attempting to run away from something. Maybe if I run far enough or fast enough, I will somehow leave all my worries and troubles behind. I have thought if I run a little further, a little longer, or a little faster, that life won't be
able to find me.

The Bible may be thousands of years old, but it still speaks to the human condition. It is full of stories where people run to escape their problems and hide from the pressures of life. We get only a few pages into the story and Adam is already hiding his nakedness.

There have been many times in my life when I have run from God. I have gone out on my own and muddled through life only to realize how much better off I was with God. But what does that mean? I've heard people say that all my life and never really understood what that meant. How do we let God take control? This can be a very confusing statement. I've come to realize it's about being connected. The times in my life when I have felt most distant from God are the times when I did not pray, did not read the Bible, and did not worship. When you don't seek to understand the Creator, you won't find him.
I want to be very clear here. So often the canned answer to all of life's problems is "read your Bible more, pray more, or just DO more." Understand that God loves you just as you are today, not once you have memorized the New Testament. Being connected is not a matter of DOING, it's a matter of SEEKING. Let me continue the running analogy. You and I will never forget how to run. But there is a difference between running daily, and running once a month. I can sit on my couch and understand why running is important and the mechanics of how to do it. But if I never engage in the activity, I will never see the benefits. The same can be said of God. I can understand WHY God is important, and the love that exists. But I will never experience the fullness of life God desires as long as I stay on the couch.

I wish I could tell you that I will never run from God again, that I will face all of my problems. But the truth is, I will run. I will hide. But you can't run from God and for that I am thankful. It is in these brief moments of clarity that I laugh in my own insecurity, and praise God for his patience. I will run, but God will be still be there when I return.

Chris Jones
Director of Recreational Ministries
Playing with a Purpose