Ask my parents to summarize my Chelsea
High School Cross Country experience, and they will probably use words like “Shin
Splints,” “Stairmaster,” and “Bath Invitational.” You might be asking, “What
does Bath Invitational have to do with your experience in high school?” Bath Invitational
was a Saturday tournament 58 minutes from my high school home, and I wouldn’t
know how long it took to get there from the high school because I slept in that
morning and missed the bus. See, the way it was supposed to go was my
parents were going to drop me off at the high school so the bus would take me
and my team to the event, but when your mind has already been made up about how much you hate running, your body follows suit in agreeing that sleeping in was the far better choice.
My parents would likely tease when they use those words because
my attitude was always less than pleasant when it came to running. Shin splints
was my number one excuse, and I would strategically bring it up to my coach
after finding out we were running 8 miles in the humid weather, on dirt roads,
nose deep in cow manure smells, and at an impossible pace that messed with your
mind when you ran. I swear any sign I am crazy came from running cross country
for two years and my coach yelling out his “Pain Is My Friend” mantra to
motivate us.
Well, I was never motivated in high school.
So, I acted like my shin splints were worse than they
really were, became closely acquainted with the Stairmaster to get out of running,
and slept in through the ungodly early weekend tournaments against superior
high schools.
Fast forward more than 20 years later, and it’s 2023. I
just wrapped up my first 10k with a pace of around 9 minutes and 30 seconds,
and I suddenly wish I didn’t use shin splints as an excuse. I also wish I didn’t
quit Cross Country after 2 years.
This is what happens when you don’t allow yourself to see
the good that God is producing through the pain. A lot like my experiences with
Cross Country, Paul did the same in Scripture – he used running as a metaphor
in our spiritual journey.
In Galatia, the church was being pulled in the wrong
direction by false teaching – Galatians 1:7 says, “Evidently some people are
throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the Gospel of Christ.”
When it came to the church, they were letting false
doctrine cut them off from “running a good race,” according to Paul. This race
is the closest metaphor for walking in step with the Truth of the Gospel and
not letting shin splints and sleeping in deter you from walking boldly in the direction
of the Gospel of Truth.
Currently, I am training for the next 10k, and whenever I make
the bold decision to not let the next excuse distract me from doing what I set
out to do, my mind inevitably drifts to wishing I stuck with cross country and even
running after high school concluded. In my late 30s, I discovered I have “Runner’s
Knee,” the unscientific way of saying I have arthritic knees. Training now
means I have to use arthritis cream for both knees to reduce inflammation.
Without slathering Voltaren on each knee before my runs, I can’t make it past ¾
of a mile before Runner’s Knee shows up and I feel the intense pain that makes
me have to stop. I don’t regret needing the cream to train, but it does make me
sad that I didn’t spend more time entering races and training for them when I didn’t
have to use CopperFit compression sleeves, an inhaler for asthma, and the Runner’s
Knee ointment.
Spiritually, I also find myself drifting to spiritual laziness
from time to time, and when I want to start back up, I feel like it sometimes
takes more work to get back into it. Don’t underestimate the power of spiritual
momentum, because often the words God gives you in yesterday’s devotionals will
apply to tomorrow, as often is the case with running and exercising. The times
I train by running 4 miles will eventually help me run 6 miles races more
smoothly.
Don’t let shin splints take you out of the race. We live in
a world that is cloaked with distractions that feel better in the moment than
running the race. Is it fun to wake up at 6am to prepare for a 3-mile run on
the weekend? No, and I don’t think Paul and Jesus said that it would be.
They also did not say that’s why we do the running. We don’t
run because it is always fun, but we run the race “so that we may obtain [the
prize]” (1 Corinthians 9:24). The eternal prize is a life devoted to Christ, a
life lived with purpose.
With running comes purpose, and when that purpose is directed
to Christ, it is a life that follows his will. When the shin splints of life
try to steer us away from running with Jesus – staying on the couch instead of
getting out there – we let the world prevent us from running towards the eternal
prize. We quit running before we even start.
The voices you hear that tell you to stop running, postpone
it, or question why you do it are not of God. They are designed to derail your
devotion to God’s will and direction in your life. Continue running, even when
it is hard and the comfort of your couch feels better.
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