“RUN, FORREST! RUN!”
This iconic line is going to serve as the tag line for today’s good word. Everybody’s running. We’re all running somewhere or to something or from something or late.
This is not anything new either. In scripture, we see lots of people running. Jonah ran from God to Tarshish. Philip ran to catch an Ethiopian who needed the word of God and a fresh encounter with the living God. Joseph ran out of the house when Potipher’s wife tried to seduce and trap him. Peter and John ran to the tomb after the girls reported that the stone was rolled away. Elijah outran King Ahab to Jezreel and then ran for his life.
Seems like everyone is running! And today is no different. Now, we run on Dunkin’.
David, our series’ character, seems to spend a good portion of his life in a running state. He runs toward the giant in battle. He had to run from Saul multiple times in fear of his life. He ran a giant scandal, like a good soap opera, complete with adultery, pregnancy, murder, cover up, until finally exposure. And then, later in life, he had to run from his own son again out of fear for his safety.
All this running made David exhausted, and he wrote about it, more than once.
The psalms, much of which are attributed to David, are riddled with phrases/prayers like:
“Have compassion on me, Lord, for I am weak. Heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony. I am sick at heart. How long, O Lord, until you restore me?” – Psalm 6:2-3
“I am exhausted from crying for help; my throat is parched. My eyes are swollen with weeping, waiting for God to help me.” – Psalm 69:3
“My health fails, my spirit droops, yet God remains. He is the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.” – Psalm 73:26
“My eyes fail looking for your salvation, looking for your righteous promise.” – Psalm 119:123
Are you tired of running? Well, Proverbs 28:1 does have this little gem regarding running, “Only a fool runs when no one is chasing him.” (Everyone Cheers.) We do read in a couple different places, however, that there is a command to run – 1 Corinthians and Hebrews. (Everyone groans.)
So, today, I want to coach you to run better.
Run to win (1 Cor 9:24). No one enters a race to FAIL or intentionally experience defeat. Maybe the plan is NOT to take first place, but the win is to finish or beat last month’s time! Everyone runs so let’s run to win.
This also means that there is an effort needed BEFORE race day. Read the next few verses and see what Paul does to that end.
Run uninhibited (Heb 12:1). We also read to set ourselves up for success when running. Throw off the crap that pulls us down and remove the things that trip us up. Then just hang on and keep running.
Running with an arm load or dragging luggage and navigating obstacles is really inefficient and tiresome.
Whether you like it or not, we’re in a race. Might as well figure out the best way to run! So, Run, Forrest. RUN!!!
#RunForrestRun
#RunToWin
#RestoringWholenessOfLife
Brett
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