Easy running.

As a birthday approached that would mark the beginning of a new and dreaded decade, one of the issues nagging me was physical fitness--or lack of same.

I had quit smoking many years ago and had begun walking at that time, but I wanted to do more. So shortly after my May birthday, I started running. First I ran only when no one was around to see, and only from telephone pole to telephone pole during my walks along our country road. The only running I had ever done before was from my back door to the car, and then only if it was raining.

I kept at it, though, and after a few weeks I had worked up to a quarter mile at a time--still only when no one could see me, of course. One day I ran an entire mile. I remember that day because I felt as if I had completed a marathon rather than a mere 1,760 yards.

My goal for the end of the year was three miles, but by August doubt set in. I was running a mile and a half on a regular basis, and I thought I might have reached my limit. When I found a partner for the fall and early winter months, I also found new wells of endurance within myself. I surpassed my year-end goal by mid-December.

Then my partner developed a condition that prevented her from joining me, the weather grew progressively colder, and I grew faint of heart. Distances that had been easy became difficult. Instead of enjoying my run, I found myself looking down the road to where I could finish.

I soon learned that looking too far down the road was a danger in many ways. By doing so, I risk twisted ankles, humiliating tumbles, and the nagging certainty that I will never reach the end. When my legs feel as if they are made of stone, or I just can't seem to get enough oxygen, any distance seems too great. One step at a time will take me to the end eventually. But if I look at my goal wishing to achieve it in one giant leap, doubt and discouragement may prevent me from ever reaching it.

I have learned to apply the principles of running to the rest of my life, too. Faith and spiritual endurance, like physical fitness and stamina, do not arrive without training.

Looking too far down the path of my life will trip me up with worry, so I need to keep myself in the present and put one foot ahead of the other in faith. God will not fail or forsake me, and I need to trust Him for the parts of the road ahead that I cannot see.

Endurance comes from the day-to-day building on what was accomplished in the days before. I will never run a marathon if I don't first run a mile.

In this same way God accomplishes the strengthening of my spirit as He trains me for His purposes--running the race by His timetable, on the course He has laid out.