Running Uphill!

It’s been a couple of weeks now, but I am still excited about the fact that eight of us from our church, Shrewsbury First Assembly, ran as a team at the Red Bank 5K Classic.  It was a beautiful day. The energy level was high. We did our pre-race photos. And before you knew it, the race had begun. So, off we ran with almost 900 other runners!

Now, I’ve been running for about a year and I do most of my running on the boardwalk, which is very flat. At other times I run in my neighborhood, which is mostly flat. The fact is, I never run hills.  So, here’s where this particular race became a bit difficult for me: it had a huge uphill! Thus, like many of the other runners around me, I found myself pushing hard to get up to the top, one step at a time, doing my best to keep some sort of pace. I remember thinking to myself, for every uphill there has to be a downhill! That was my only consolation, though it seemed like an eternity until the downhill came.  In no way, shape, or form can I say it was fun running uphill.  It was a necessity if I was to finish the race—truly a necessary evil. But, it was not fun at all! 

The fact is, uphill’s are never fun! They’re not supposed to be. Yet, sometimes it is the only way to get to one’s destination. At times it is only by means of the uphill that you get to where you need to be. And, uphill’s teach us much that the downhill’s and flatlands cannot teach us.

The Shrewsbury First Assembly Team!

I tend to think that, God actually allows some uphill’s to come into our lives.  At times, he causes us to have to run uphill through the difficulties of this life, to help us learn patience, endurance, and to strengthen our “faith muscles” (to take a phrase from Patrick Morley).  More than that, it is often in the uphill’s of life, as we are pushing through, struggling to get to the top, that we receive a new revelation of who God is and his incredible grace at work in our lives.  Yes, God’s plan for our lives may take us up and over some hills, hills that we would rather not have to run, but ones that our heavenly Father knows will get us to where we need to be, help us become who we need to become, and help us to know him better.

The Apostle Paul wrote of,  “the God who gives endurance and encouragement” (Romans 15:5 – NIV) Elsewhere he writes of, “…being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience….” (Colossians 1:11 –NIV)  If course, it is only in the uphill’s of life that those words make any sense. 

So, let’s not fear the uphill’s of life.  Rather let’s allow them to become an opportunity to experience God’s grace at work in our lives, believing that he will get us to our final destination!

Have a great day!

Pastor Tim Harris