While I Ran: First Steps

Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him. Genesis 6:22

Reading the testimonies, viewing the pictures, and watching the videos of successful runners/exercisers both encourages and discourages me. It encourages me because I know that the same God that made them made me, and He is able to turn my average health to a God-sized healthy lifestyle. It discourages me because I want to start off running just like they are now.

If you’ve laid your running shoes to rest for several years, then try to pull them out of retirement, you’ll learn the same thing I did: crack is wack. What in the Usain Bolt obesity Hades was I thinking? I wanted the twelve pack that the runners had. I wanted the endurance of 80 cheetahs that they possessed. I wanted to run at full speed for more than 3.4 seconds without needing an ambulance, 2 kegs of Gatorade, and a new set of lungs. I wanted to stop.Then I was reminded of Noah. The instructions God gave Noah in Genesis 6 are quite ridiculous. God actually wanted this old dude to build a boat the size of a train that was over 5 miles long. Not only that, God gave him SPECIFIC instructions, including the type of wood, how many floors, the length, width, and height, and I wouldn’t be surprised if He told him what air freshener to buy for it. When Noah finished that, God then told him to get a ton of animals, with specific numbers for each. Could you imagine Noah?

Um, ‘scuse me, Mr. Lion. I know you could kill me and not break a sweat, but could you and your wife kindly put down that moose (who could also kill me in a heartbeat) and follow me into this huge wooden box? Thanks. I’ll wait over here by this tree so you won’t accidentally sneeze and cut out my esophagus with your baby toenail on your back left paw.

Still, after the huge Titanic size to-do list of ark instructions God gave Noah, and even after the life threatening command to grab animals, Noah’s response was the same: Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

The Bible doesn’t tell us how long it took for Noah to build the ark, but about a hundred years passed between the time Noah is mentioned and the time he entered the ark. Regardless of the time, I wonder if Noah ever got discouraged in the build. This huge monstrosity of a ship had to begin with one plank. The dramatic redemption of my body must begin with one step.

My physical being isn’t the only thing God is reconciling. I wanted to go to Seminary in August (I actually applied, got accepted, and earned a scholarship), but those plans got delayed (not denied). I’m not going to Seminary in August, unfortunately, but what’s stopping me from learning more about God? God has blessed me with a plethora of resources, including the Bible, books, videos, podcasts, pastors, and friends. I can gain amazing wisdom, knowledge, and understanding just by turning off every distraction, and then grabbing a pen, pad, and Bible. I want to learn more about programming, and God has shown favor and revealed countless FREE resources all over the internet.

My point is this: with what has God charged you? What is your mission impossible? What is your responsibility? What is it that seems overwhelmingly impossible? There’s good news: God will never request what He does not provide. He requires perfection, so He gave us Perfection (Jesus). He requires time with us, so He created the day. Everything that has breath must praise the Lord, so He breathed life into us.

The greatest giants, the longest journeys, the strongest ministries all have two miracles in common:

The first step we take and the God who allowed us to take it.