Run Hard

Evidently I've been busy. While writing is close to my heart, I guess other things have been closer the past few months. But, it's that season again. A season that inspires me. The season of cross country. For the life of me, I don't know why these kids (or anyone) would want to run for fun. I keep thinking I'm gonna try it one day, but I learned back at the beginning of the summer that you have to start small and work your way up to this running thing. I tried running up a hill to catch a picture of a sunset and thought I might have a heart attack. So, my running record is a poor one!

Today, we were at another meet with Peyton. I love seeing the new spectators, and watch them learn how this whole sport works. I am still learning too. But most of all, I love the unity of the team, and the lessons I learn watching my son, and others, run.

During his race, I had "ran" my way back towards the finish line. (By ran, I mean, my jog turned into a brisk walk, which then, just changed into a slow one as we checked the time, and realized we still had about two minutes to get to the finish to watch the runners come through.) As I cheered on our team, I overheard someone yelling to another runner, "Run hard; he's coming." 

"Write that one down," I said.

While I didn't have pen and paper, or even my phone to take notes on, I thought about the truth in those four words.

Run hard. He's coming. 

As I thought about Scripture, and later looked them up, I came upon this one. 

"...let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." Hebrews 12:1

I thought about the sin that we face daily in this race that we are struggling through. Satan is coming after us. I see it everyday. In my life, my kids lives, my marriage. We see it in families destroyed by addictions, abuse, affairs. We see it through division, diversion and distractions. I saw this in the life of one in recent months, who had overcome so many struggles by the grace of God and was sharing that with others, yet the evil remained close, and he lost the battle.  Satan is coming after us. As I heard those words today, I pictured the image of the enemy chasing that boy, as he was so close to the finish line. Our kids are being bombarded with temptations that are at their fingertips. The culture they are growing up in is so far from the Word of God. They are being lied to, and the Truth seems to be a thing of the past. And the enemy is right on their heels, hoping they will trip up and fall. Because the enemy knows his time is limited, and we are trying to "run hard."

Because HE is coming! Yes! Satan knows his time is drawing shorter and shorter. So of course he would be busy.

We must run hard!! He's coming! Run with endurance. Don't give up.   

"....looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:2

"holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain." Phil. 2:15b

He is the founder of our faith and He will perfect it when we finally finish our race. 

When these kids run, they know the finish line is up ahead. They can't see it yet, but they know it's there. When they cross it, then what they hoped and waited to get to, will be there. Their faith will be made sight. Of course, all don't finish at the same time; each one runs the "race marked out for" them. 

Yes, the enemy is coming. He's a roaring lion seeking us to destroy us. (1 Peter 5:8) Yet he disguises himself as an angel of light. (2 Cor. 11:14) He's on our heels, attacking where he can. 

But we as believers must "Run Hard." We must hold on tightly to the Word of Truth, teaching it to our children, and sharing it with others. So many need to hear that Truth. And know that He, the King of Kings, is coming for us, either when our earthly race is won, or when He returns. He will give us the strength until that day.

So run hard!

The Struggle is Real

If you look it up in Urban Dictionary, this is what you will find: 
"Denotes a situation where the user wishes to express that they are encountering some sort of undesirable difficulty, but dealing with it. With irony, it has a comical effect of dramatizing a non-critical, yet undesirable situation."

The Struggle is Real. You've seem the memes posted on Facebook of the ice cube sandwich or baby crying because it's Monday. Or this one, if you are a teacher.

 

Struggles. The mountain of laundry. The pile of dishes in the sink. The crying baby or barking dog. A flat tire. A dead battery. The leaky faucet. 
Yes, we might consider these a bit of a struggle. The things that we face day to day that might be a hinderance or little test at the time. We all have them; it's a part of life. 
But as I considered this phrase that we often see like this in our social media posts- #thestruggleisreal- I realized there is a LOAD of truth in it. 
Everyday we are faced with a struggle that is born out of the spiritual realm.

I read the books This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness by Frank Peretti when I was in high school. I remember thinking then, how frightened we would be if we could see the "unseen" that goes on around us everyday. Then I was again reminded of this after I recently started a Bible study called the Armor of God by Priscilla Shirer. From Day 1 in the book, she points out that this life we live is really a spiritual war. She says, "The most troubling things in life....are not your real issue. Everything that occurs in the visible, physical world is directly connected to the wrestling match being waged in the invisible, spiritual world."  
Paul says it best in Ephesians: "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." Ephesians 6:12

Priscilla Shirer goes on to say that the word "struggle" there, sometimes translated "wrestle," means "a contest or fight between opponents, waged in close hand to hand combat with the goal of pinning down and defeating ones rival."
Satan wants to pin us down and keep us from doing anything productive for the Kingdom. Once we are Christ-followers, he knows he can't have us, but he can distract us and pull us away from that which God intends for us to do.
Of course, there is also a struggle for the life of those who have not surrendered to Christ. No matter where we are spiritually, we are at war.

I saw this so clearly as I watched "The Passion Live in New Orleans" last night. One of the most moving scenes to me was the moment in the garden as Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss. I had never heard the song before that was put to this scene. I looked for the clip of the actual scene, but could only find the song. It may be hard to visualize, and the song is sung by both characters, the one who plays Judas and the one who plays Jesus. 
Just hearing the song won't do the scene justice, so I included the lyrics, and highlighted in red the line that the character of Jesus sings to Judas.


Jencarlos Canela - Demons (From “The Passion: New Orleans”) ft. Chris Daughtry - YouTube

When the days are cold
And the cards all fold
And the saints we see
Are all made of gold

When your dreams all fail
And the ones we hail
Are the worst of all
And the blood’s run stale

I wanna hide the truth
I wanna shelter you
But with the beast inside
There’s nowhere we can hide

No matter what we breed
We still are made of greed
This is my kingdom come
This is my kingdom come

When you feel my heat
Look into my eyes
It’s where my demons hide
It’s where your demons hide
Don’t get too close
It’s dark inside
It’s where my demons hide
It’s where your demons hide

At the curtain’s call
It's the last of all
When the lights fade out
All the sinners crawl

So they dug your grave
And the masquerade
Will come calling out
At the mess you made

Don't wanna let you down
But I am hell bound
Though this is all for you
Don't wanna hide the truth

No matter what we breed
We still are made of greed
This is my kingdom come
This is my kingdom come

When you feel my heat
Look into my eyes
It’s where my demons hide
It’s where my demons hide
Don’t get too close
It’s dark inside
It’s where my demons hide
It’s where my demons hide

They say it's what you make
I say it's up to fate
It's woven in my soul
I need to let you go

Your eyes, they shine so bright
I wanna save that light
I can't escape this now
Unless you show me how

When you feel my heat
Look into my eyes
It’s where my demons hide
It’s where my demons hide
Don’t get too close
It’s dark inside
It’s where my demons hide
It’s where my demons hide

If you didn't see "The Passion," maybe it'll re-air. Yes, it was dramatized in a modern way with secular songs, but the gospel was preached. And as I watched the Judas scene, I identified with the struggle. Not quite the same wrestling, where you see on "Judas'" face the war raging over what he was about to do. Well, maybe sometimes, yes.  But our own wrestling: The struggle within, the one that we hide and don't want others to see. The dark places. The masquerade. The greed, the selfishness- all because of the spiritual battle that takes place around us.  
Yet Jesus calls out, He sees the brightness in our eyes, the light within; He longs to shelter us. He is our shield, and He will fight for us. 

Yes, the struggle is real. It's way more than Monday morning alarms and indoor recess and laundry. 

And as we approach Easter, I'm reminded that it is only because of the cross and the power that raised Christ from the dead, that we can be equipped to fight, putting on the armor of God Himself. And after "having done everything, to stand firm," victorious through the blood of Christ!