Why I Can Run

Prayer on a Rough Path 

 Sleep may slip out of reach,
 but you will send mercies, all new.
 Age may take its toll,
 but I find true health in you.

 I may hobble along the path,
 but you will keep me upright.
 I may wrestle with fear in the dark,
 but you are the light in my heart.

 The world’s disasters may trouble me,
 but I will find peace with you.
 Tangled emotions may strangle me, 
 but you will pull me through

 You hold my hand to guide me
 and keep me walking strong,
 you shade me from the burning heat
 and slake my thirst with song.

 If not for you I’d be a mess,
 crippled, fried and blue.
 Because of you I run with joy
 to the goal: forever with you!

It is not easy to keep walking strong, much less running, when it seems that every day there are hurdles to jump or frightening traffic at the crossroads, steep slopes to climb or just dull, dry desert. Worries, disease, injuries, traumas can deplete strength and mess up sleep patterns. Energy dwindles. Then there is the news, maybe not what you wanted to hear. How can you keep on running? And what on earth is the goal in all of this?

Over and over I’ve had to remember that there is just one place to find hope in the middle of mayhem and empowerment to keep on keeping on. And that is to open my heart, mind and soul to the One who is always present and be filled with peace as I remember his promises. Yes, he holds me, guides me, renews me. And best of all, I have that confident hope, the assurance that at the end of this race, I will be forever with him in a Reality beyond my current comprehension.

He knows when a sparrow falls. He knows when we stumble. He knows when we are hurt. When we belong to him, he holds onto us and keeps us running. And it will be worth it all when we see him at last!

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
(Phil. 3:14 ESV)