The Best Way Out

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And when you pass through the rivers they will not sweep over you.  When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”  Isaiah 43:2

At age 48, I decided to become a long distance runner.  First, came the quarter marathon (6.55 miles). Next, was the half marathon (13.1 miles). Finally, I completed a full marathon (26.2 miles) just after my 50th birthday.  Here’s something I learned along the way:

The hardest part of running a marathon isn’t the end, it’s the part just before the end.  Runners call it “Hitting the Wall,” and it usually happens somewhere between miles 19 and 23.  The Wall is a sudden and powerful urge to quit the race.  To give up and take a DNF (Did not Finish).  Surprisingly, this sometimes happens with the finish line in sight.

Thankfully, The Wall is weakened, I mean like Superman and Kryptonite, by one thing:  WILL POWER.  You push through the wall by using your mind to tell your body not to quit.

There have been plenty of times, as a runner and otherwise, where I’ve wanted to leap-frog over the rivers and go around the fires.  But God says He will be with us on the way through.

“Alrighty, then,” as a friend of mine likes to say.  Let’s get this over with…

“The best way out is always through.” Robert Frost