Do you talk to yourself? On a normal basis I don’t; however, when I’m running, I find its the only way for me to make it through a run. When I started running, it was more walking than running. I couldn’t run around the block without stopping. With training, I was able to run my first 5K last weekend. My goal was to run the whole thing, which I did. I was pleasantly surprised by my time. All of the training paid off for the big day.
This week I’ve continued to run, but surprisingly, I’ve found it more difficult. I don’t know if it’s because the race is behind me or what, but I have wanted to cut my run short every day. I’ve had to become my own coach and challenge myself to keep going. I reminded myself of things I read while preparing for the 5K, such as,
If you want to stop starting over, stop quitting.”
It’s amazing how much something like that helps. It’s that little boost you need to just keep going until you come to the end of your run.
This morning, I planned to do a longer run, which took me up the steepest hill I run. Halfway up, I was fighting for air and in some evil twist of nature had a hot flash. Seriously? I’m already out here killing myself and in the midst of it all I have to experience a hot flash. Quitting would have been so easy, but I fought through it. I was telling myself every “coach-like” thing I could think of to press on. I even pulled out the Gatorade commercial,
One more!”
Stop laughing at me. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I managed to finish my run and I’m alive to tell about it. Thankfully, I had read a lot about running and encouraging tips that I could pull from when it got tough and I wanted to quit.
Sometimes life seems like a hard run. You feel yourself running out of steam and you’re not sure if you’re going to make it. In the middle of the hardship, some evil twist gets thrown at you and you just want to throw in the towel. The Lord knew that would be the case. In fact, He told us that we’d have trouble in life [John 16:33]. He’s given us an example of how to overcome evil when it comes knocking at our door [Matthew 4:1-11]. Just as Jesus did, we are to use the Word of God to strengthen and encourage ourselves as well as resist the devil [James 4:7].
Very few of us walk around with the Bible in our back pockets, although smartphones make it possible. The best way to ensure we’re prepared for hardship, is to train. Sow the Word deep in our hearts so when we need it, we have it readily available as Psalm 119:11 suggests:
I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.”
How do we hide the Word in our heart? By studying it and meditating on it. Deuteronomy 6:6-9 says,
These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.”
Basically, make the Word a part of your life so it becomes a part of you. Then when the trouble comes, and it will, you’ll have what you need to help you press through to victory.
We all have millions of tapes we listen to inside our heads: the music we feed ourselves, things other people tell us, things we read. Make sure one of those tapes plays the Word of God loud and proud.
What is one way you can plant the Word of God in your mind?
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