Running a Good Race…
Stephen in his HRC bike jersey.
According to Andrew Cherwenka, a two-time Ironman, less than one percent of the world’s population finish an Ironman race, a fete which requires a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and 26.2 mile run.
On Sunday, June 28th, my friend and web manager, Stephen Robinson, will participate in the Coeur d’Alene Ironman. This enormous undertaking has been his longtime dream. To bring the dream to fruition, Stephen kept persisting, setting and achieving increasingly demanding goals.
Stephen’s journey has inspired me, and in the past, I’ve invited him to write a guest blog posts about the process of training for races. We have learned from him that a great deal of physical endurance is necessary. In addition, Stephen has grown spiritually as he has made pursuing God through studying Scripture and serving in ministry to teens in his home church top priorities.
Stephen’s girls—wife and three daughters—have cheered him on every step of the way. I imagine the entire Robinson family has grown in this process.
Stephen and his family before volunteering at Ironman Coeur d’Alene 2014.
Today, I want to honor Stephen and to also ask you who believe in the power of prayer to pray for him. No doubt about it, this event taxes to the max the soul of every participant—physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually.
Most of us will never participate in, train for, nor even think about doing an Ironman. We do, however, have our own dreams—dreams that must be turned into ‘action steps’ if we’ll ever achieve them.
Today, I’m asking myself a couple questions, which you may also want to ponder:
What is the dream you and I would like to see become a reality?
What training disciplines are we willing to take to fulfill that dream?
Being a follower of Christ is a race many reading these words have chosen to run. Hebrews 12:1-3 is one of my favorite passages of Scripture. The backdrop is chapter 11, describing men and women of deep faith, many who were martyred for that faith. Here is the pithy paraphrase of Eugene Peterson, in The Message:
Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls! (Hebrews 12:1-3 MSG)
In a few weeks, I’ll ask Stephen to write another guest post to share some of his hard-fought insights about “getting on with it.”
Until then, Godspeed, Stephen. Many will be praying for and cheering you on, including today’s Listening on the Journey… readers and me,
