I am a runner. I’m not a fast runner, or really even a great runner, but I do run. I have a love hate relationship with running, but I have never regretted a completed run. However, I often regret missing a run. Lately most of my runs have been on the treadmill, it has rained and rained and rained and then rained again. I give thanks to God for the rain, trusting He knows what we need much better than I, but deep in my soul I’ve longed for sunshine and wished the rain would end. So finally, the rain ended (for a brief moment) and I was able to run outside again. I love the fresh air, the wind against my face, the change of scenery, and the challenge it brings to my body versus the same routine on the treadmill. The terrain is uncertain and there may be obstacles along the path, but it is always a rewarding experience. I sometimes end up disappointed because I was hoping for a faster pace or hoping to not have to stop and walk at all. I try to coach myself in these moments, “It is not about the pace, or how you compare to other runners, it is about finishing.” Reminding myself I got out there, and I did it. I finished. I am getting better about this.

Maybe you are not a runner, but keep reading because I believe this applies to everyone! So in this running and thinking and being outside, it makes me think of everyday life. The ups and downs of life, the accomplishments, the disappointments, the joy and even the heartache. We are not always certain from day to day what the “terrain” may look like. We may try, with great futility, to schedule the day to death, in an effort to control the “terrain”, but as soon as it doesn’t go the way we perceived, how great the disappointment! Or is it just me? I get in my head how I want my day to go, and it starts looking good, and then it all goes sideways. On occasion I remember Who I belong to, and I remember it is just a moment, and in each moment there is grace. I remember this gift of great grace which can cover whatever the moment brings. However, this is the exception, the rule more or less is; I begin to count all the ways I failed to anticipate the outcome, the things I should or should not have done to alter the outcome. I then ask ‘why Lord, am I like this? why is this my life? why can things just not go the way I want them? do you love me at all? do I even deserve your love?’ After I beat myself up a little while, some small reminder will come my way; a call or text from a friend, a sweet word from one of my boys, a song on the radio, affirmation from my husband, or maybe just the sweet shine of the sun reminding me, ‘this is just a moment’. A moment is just, a moment. A moment doesn’t define an entire life, it is a small part of a bigger picture. For me, I’m having to learn each moment is not pass or fail, each one is a moment of necessary grace, a lesson to be learned, a blessing to be received, a reminder of a habit to let go of, or a moment to experience something God needs me to understand. I’m learning it isn’t about the pace, it is about the finish.

My absolute favorite Bible verse is Romans 12:12 “Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.” But oh how patience and prayer can escape me in these moments. However, I am learning to change my perspective, to embrace grace in each moment, and to be aware of God’s presence in each one. It is a process and the rule is slowly (I mean even way slower than I run, slowly) becoming the exception. My confident hope is, in reading this you are encouraged to know; the terrain can be rough, the territory can be unfamiliar, but God doesn’t leave us in the moment. His love is not limited to a moment or a series of moments. His mercy and grace is sufficient for whatever each moment brings.

Trusting in God, living your life for Jesus does not mean we will never experience the hard moments, perhaps it means more of them, but it is in the hard moments we see our faith lived out. When we find our strength, our hope and our joy, just in being His, the hard moments don’t seem so hard. I am hoping as you read this you are reminded, the moment doesn’t have to define the way everything else will go, you have the choice to move forward (get off the treadmill, embrace the rough terrain), learn the lesson, accept the blessing, and give thanks for each one drawing you closer to Him.