A Lesson From Forrest

 In light of all this, here’s what I want you to do. While I’m locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences. (Ephesians 4:2)

Have you seen the movie, "Forrest Gump"? One line from that movie, "Run, Forrest, run", really depicts a heart of 'steadfast commitment'. One of the most amazing things he says is, "You have to do the best with what God gave you". God tells us to 'run', not walk, because idle hands make for way too much opportunity for compromise. Our 'walk' is to be steady - consistent and disciplined. We can barely crawl, stroll, or outright run this race - it is up to us to not have a whole bunch of 'false starts', though.

We are all probably a little guilty of making a whole bunch of 'false starts' in life. When I ran track and field in school, one of the things we were taught is how to use a 'starting block' to get ourselves in 'equal position' to begin the race. We put our feet squarely on the two blocks, fingers squarely positioned just even with the inside of the starting line, and our posture such that we were to spring forth onto the track. If you were a bit anxious to start, like I was, you might 'over-anticipate' the sound of the starter's gun. You'd jump forward and cross the line, but there was no real direction to start the race yet. That's a false start. God doesn't want us 'jumping the gun', he wants us in sync with his movements, but at the ready at all times to go where he leads.

Forrest reminds us, "You got to put the past behind you before you can move on." Some of our false starts are related to holding onto things in the past that get our focus off the present. Let go and focus - then you will be able to clearly hear God's direction. Some are related to us thinking 'ahead' of God, like when I jumped the starter's gun. We honestly have great intentions, but poorly executed plans. God has a 'grand plan' for each of us, complete with a whole bunch of 'mini plans' that we have to work through before we ever see the bigger plan coming together. We can get all caught up in how things aren't moving fast enough for us and jump the gun, too. Either way, we aren't running well - we are running, but just not as well as we are supposed to run. 

God may be asking us to put the past behind - so do it once and for all - holding onto it is just going to mess up our present and keep us from our future. God may be asking us to 'hold on' a bit until he gives us the direction to move - but when he does, we better be ready to go. God may be reminding us that he gave us all we need for the 'run' that is ahead - so trust him with the 'race' because he has already equipped you thoroughly! Just sayin!

Who gets the credit on this one?

It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit. 

(Harry S. Truman)

It was Truman who was first quoted as saying, "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen." There are times we feel the heat rising in our lives and we get doggone uncomfortable in the process. If we took Truman's suggestion, we'd bolt every time we felt a bit too uncomfortable for our liking. If we always bolted when things got a little too 'heated' in our lives, what do you think we'd accomplish? Not a whole heck of a lot, that's for sure! We'd spend more time running that we'd spending 'accomplishing'!

The fastest runner does not always win the race, the strongest soldier does not always win the battle, the wisest does not always have food, the smartest does not always become wealthy, and the talented one does not always receive praise. (Ecclesiastes 9:11)

We ALL can start the race, but will we ALL finish it? Some will drop out along the way - not because they didn't want to 'win', but because they saw the race as too hard for them to finish. We may not finish 'first', but if we persevere until we cross the finish line, we have indeed won the race! Credit goes to the first to cross the line - in all the races on this earth that we can think of from the Kentucky Derby to the Boston Marathon. With a different perspective toward 'running the race', we can ALL be 'winners', even when we don't cross the line first.

To persevere means we persist in anything we have undertaken, while maintaining our purpose in spite of difficulties faced along the way. There will be obstacles, and it is certain that discouragement will enter into our thoughts along the way. The goal is to continue steadfastly in spite of all these things that seek to dissuade us from the original aim. I used to have a teacher who told me if we all started well, we'd end well. That isn't always the case in real life, is it? Sometimes we start pretty well but do a miserable job finishing what we started.

God isn't after the fastest or strongest runners in this race - he is looking for those who will persevere till the finish line. I am planning on being a finisher - how about you? Are you running to 'win', or to let the 'race' bring out whatever it takes to get yourself across the finish line? If you are like me, the 'whatever it takes' may be a little harder than you imagined when you first started 'running'. We aren't seeking fame or acclaim - we are just seeking to finish. We aren't always going to be the fastest, smartest, wisest, or most talented - but when we run with all we've got - we will cross the finish line well! Just sayin!

Three 'resolutions' of sorts

I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences. (Ephesians 4:1-3)

A new year dawns and you likely are either skeptical anything great will come out of this two-year battle against this pandemic, or you are counting on something great to come from all the new research and break-throughs in medicine that may help. Some will celebrate the hopefulness of 'building back' our country again, while others will bemoan the fact they don't like the present political policies. There will be families enthused about their commitment to eat right, while others will find exercise to be the ticket on their 'resolution playlist' this year. Regardless of where you are right now, what resolutions you have made, or how chaotic you think things are, one thing we are all called to do: WALK, maybe even RUN. We are all entering into a 'new day' together. Whatever comes, we WALK and RUN together. Don't be a lone wolf. Partner with someone today to help you not only WALK, but learn how to RUN on the road God has called you to travel.

Fits and starts - pretty much describes every New Year's resolution everywhere. What we lack is the 'steadiness' part. We aren't going to overcome this pandemic with fits and starts - we all need to be rowing in the same direction. We aren't going to get anywhere toward climate change alone - it takes a village. We won't impact our country's infrastructure with some magic bill passed by Congress - we all need to do whatever part we can to make our country great again. These things are all the 'news-worthy' stuff we hear about every day right now, aren't they? Yet, there is one thing we won't hear about on the news stations today and that is the message we all actually need to hear and embrace: God is not about to stop reaching out for those he has so much love for in this big world. The time seems grim, but his truth never shines brighter than when we begin to be embraced by his Spirit.

Acts of love - what could you do to show someone God's love today - not by accident, but with purposeful intent? Noticing differences - not to point them out to each other in some kind of hurtful manner, but to see them as what makes us each unique and able to fulfill a specific purpose as God designed for us to fulfill while we walk this earth. Whose 'differences' will God use to make this world a better place today? What fences do you need to take personal responsibility to mend this week? These aren't the typical resolutions for a new year, but trust me on this one - if we were to embrace these three, our world would be a whole lot less stressful and a bit more focused on each other than ourselves. Just sayin!

Heed that flag

There is seldom a time when "going in circles" isn't a waste of time. I think that someone like a race car driver would be the exception. He accomplishes either the winning or the losing of the race while staying on that oval track - going around and around at a calculated pace to accomplish the goal. For most of us, going in circles is another story - we find that we accomplish very little in the course of our efforts. The people of Israel had been "going in circles" in the wilderness for years. They had shed more than a few tears of grief over their choice to doubt God's provision for them. Something I have seen over the years (even in my own life) is that tears don't make someone change! You cannot equate tears with repentance. We can shed real tears without any real sense for what we need to change or how to change.

Then we turned around and went back into the wilderness following the route to the Red Sea, as God had instructed me. We worked our way in and around the hills of Seir for a long, long time. Then God said, "You've been going around in circles in these hills long enough; go north." (Deuteronomy 2:1-2)

Some of us just 'go in circles'. "Circle runners" find themselves doing the same old things over and over again, wondering why they are not getting a different response. In turn, they get frustrated and their self-will becomes even more determined to accomplish something, but it just means we find ourselves "taking another lap". It grieves God for us to stay in our self-willed 'circling the track' disobedience, but he allows us to "do the laps" until we come to a place where we recognize the futility of our having gone in circles so long! We often find ourselves complaining about the multitude of "circles" we travel - but if the truth is really known, we don't really want any other path!

"Circle runners" often don't realize what it is that keeps them doing the same things. There is a lack of awareness because there is a lack of awareness that could help the "circle runner" to "exit the track". As long as self-will and self-direction is our plan, we may shed some tears at our outcome, but we are still not "uncomfortable" enough in our present circumstances to want any change. We don't look for an exit when we are comfortable! God's promise is to be our guide - to give us clear direction. The only thing is that we have to be near enough to him to actually catch the movement he makes. A guide is useless if those being guided are not paying attention to the guide's directions. Just as the race car driver must be ever-vigilant in monitoring the conditions of the course by watching the man with the "flags" - so we must be with keeping our eyes on God. I had no idea that there were so many flags they use in a race, but the list below gives us some idea. Notice that some of these flags are what they call "conditional" flags - once a specific condition is met, the flag is raised.

Green - Race begins or resumes. Without this flag being displayed, we don't move. We are anchored to where we are - poised to begin, but never really hitting the gas.
Yellow - Racing under caution. Conditions adverse or hazardous. It isn't safe for us on the track - we might find a hazard or two we weren't counting on finding!
Red - Racing has come to a halt. All pit crew and repair work must cease. There is some reason for the 'stoppage', but the main response elicited from this flag is to just stop and pay attention.
Black - The "consultation flag". Driver must pit. Usually due to rule violation. Huh...there is even a flag for violating rules! If we were really smart, we'd look for these flags in our own "circle running".
Black with White "X" - Driver no longer scored for failing to pit under black. Ouch! This one really speaks to the self-will, doesn't it? The flag was out there to advise us it was time to hit the place of repair and safety, but we just took another lap!
White Flag - Last lap of the race. Woohoo! We have an end in sight! When this is displayed, the racers all know it is their time to make their last 'big push' for the finish line.
Checkered flag - Race is over. Winner is about to be declared.

The simple truth is that God looks for two things: 1) A waiting heart - one that is "tuned into" the exits and the warnings along the way! 2) An obedient heart - one that actually takes the exits, heeds the warnings, and is tuned into the conditions of the path ahead! If you are running in circles today, perhaps it is time to examine the "flag" that is flying in your life today! Then heed it! Just sayin!

The prize is already ours

I keep running hard toward the finish line to get the prize that is mine because God has called me through Christ Jesus to life up there in heaven. (Philippians 3:14 ERV)

I read this passage again this morning in the Easy to Read version and I saw a couple of things that really hadn't dawned on me before. While not every translation puts the original intent perfectly, there is some validity to just looking at the passage from a different perspective once in a while as it can bring things to light you may not have seen in quite that perspective before! Here's what I saw:

- The prize is already ours! We are running a race that is already pre-determined to have us as winners - to gain the prize, we just keep running. I think there are a whole lot of us that have the idea we run to attain - but we really run because it is already ours.

- We are called, so we should live up to our calling! Through Christ Jesus, we are called. In him, we have a new purpose and destiny. We are destined to live life, not just here on this earth, but in heaven. We are called to life up there - so maybe we need to adjust our focus a little higher at times - because too "low" of a focus may limit what we see!

- There is a finish line! At times, we might think this will never end, especially when the journey gets really, really hard. We don't want it to last too much longer, but there is a pre-determined finish line already clearly marked out by our loving heavenly Father. We just need to keep making progress toward the finish line.

- We don't have to run at full-out speed all the time, but we are asked to keep running! There is such a thing as pacing yourself for the journey ahead - to run too fast, too quickly may make it harder to actually finish. We need to speed up when there is energy, slow down to regroup energy, and then pick it up again when that energy is renewed. God is always going to provide for our renewal, but we need to be running in order to be in a position for those "rest stations" along the way.

The rest of the story is also helpful in order to understand why we run and what we are running toward:

12 I don’t mean that I am exactly what God wants me to be. (My thoughts:  I don't think any of us is there yet, but we can move together toward that goal!) I have not yet reached that goal (My thoughts: Nor have you). But I continue trying to reach it and make it mine (My thoughts: We don't choose the prize - it is chosen for us - but we do run in such a way that we "make it ours"). That’s what Christ Jesus wants me to do. It is the reason he made me his. (My thoughts: We don't belong to ourselves - we are bought with a price and now we belong to him.) 13 Brothers and sisters, I know that I still have a long way to go. But there is one thing I do: I forget what is in the past and try as hard as I can to reach the goal before me. (My thoughts: You can help me focus on the finish line - but you must be there alongside me in order to do that. You're running this with me - not against me! We are all winners! We all receive the prize!) 

Just sayin!