“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.” 1 Corinthians 9:24

Tall and lean, the young woman passed me at a fast pace at the second-mile marker on my morning run. I looked up to watch the increasing distance between us and felt tempted to speed up.

“Nope. Don’t go there, missy.” I muttered under my breath.

I knew from recent experience that increasing my pace would only lead to one of two things: not being able to reach my 3-mile goal, or, worse yet, not being able to walk the next day. Sigh.

Yet, as I looked at the young gazelle once more, the competitive athlete trapped inside this aging shell wanted to catch up and pass her.

Fortunately, wisdom won, and I kept a steady pace. I shook off the distraction and continued listening to the excellent podcast playing in my ear.

It wasn’t long until I spotted Young Gazelle again. This time, she was walking. Pretty slowly, I must add.

“Hmmm. She must have ended her run.” I thought.

As I passed her, I could hear the heavy breathing. She was drenched in sweat and continued to walk through the track slowly. I kept at my steady pace, proudly passing the 20-something-year-old girl. It wasn’t long before I heard the steady steps behind me again. She was once more running at lightning speed, passing me as she did.

And then she stopped.

Again, I passed her panting self and finished my 3.5-mile run that day.

This “race” between the two of us got me thinking.

I started running not long ago after many years of inactivity. Whether due to the busyness of raising two young children, several health issues that prevented me from exercising consistently, or plain laziness, exercising was not a priority for the past decade. And then, as a new big birthday approached, I felt motivated to challenge my body to get in better shape.

The process started slowly, inspired by a good friend who is close to my age and started running in her late 40’s as well. I saw her posts on Social Media and asked if she would mentor me. To her surprise, I made it good on my word and showed up at the park for our first walk together, almost six months ago.

Following her advice, I downloaded the Couch-to-5k app (C25K), started walking, and then walking and running. The program slowly increased the time I spent running until, almost three months into the process, I was able to run for 3 miles non-stop.

“Slowly but surely.” That’s how I have been able to reach my first goal in this newfound challenge.

The woman that passed me that morning reminded me of my young self. Eager, rushed, anxiously pushing past my limits. But as I get older (and hopefully wiser), the Lord has been showing me that, most of the time, it is by slowing down and not rushing through the process that I can accomplish His purposes for my life.

Oh, don’t get me wrong – I’ve known that, all along. But the truth is – patience has never been one of my natural virtues. Countless times have I rushed through life, carelessly disregarding the pressure I was putting on my body and soul. The result was always the same: stress, anxiety, defeat.

Can anyone relate?

[bctt tweet=”Can you testify of the many wrecks caused by lack of patience? #RechargeWednesday #Linkup #Impatience” username=”PatHolbrook”]

We want to lose weight and often dive into crash diets, eager to drop the pounds that were added through many years of lack of discipline. Instead of slowly changing bad habits and replacing them with good ones, we rush towards that feel-good moment when the scale quickly moves down… only to move up again a few months later.

We dread loneliness and rush into relationships that often take us far from God’s best for our lives.

We look at the person beside us at work, ministry, or friend group, and mimic their choices or push hard to “pass” them, only to realize it: that was supposed to be their rhythm, not ours.

We compare, rush to keep up… and then…crash.

Is that you today, my friend?

Could impatience be pushing you towards a lane that is not yours?

Could it be that the glimmer that comes from the life of that person you admire in ministry tempts you to rush out of your cadence and mimic theirs?

Could it be that the void in your heart pushes you into the arms of the wrong person, instead of trusting the embrace of your Savior?

Could it be that the devil’s lies have anchored your heart in a vicious and self-deprecating cycle?

“If I don’t do ‘X’, I’ll never succeed.”

“Look at ( )! I must speed up to catch them. I’m falling behind!”

“I can’t rest. I can’t slow down.”

“I will never accomplish ‘X’ unless I do ‘Y’ and ‘Z.”

Have you noticed how self-centered these thoughts can be?

For any time we step outside of our God-given pace, we give room for the famous trio “me, myself and I” to take over. “If I don’t…” “If I do…” “I…I…I…”

We lean on our own understanding instead of “trusting God, acknowledge Him in all our ways, and wait for Him to direct our paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6 paraphrased).

So, here’s a challenge for you and me today:

If you find yourself “racing” to keep up with the person in front of you, I pray you stop, and spend some time with the Master. Leave YOUR plans, your understanding, your timing, your ways, your desires at the foot of the cross.

For as you do, He will guide you to follow the path and pace He designed for you, at this point in your life, lest you give up – breathless, burdened and broken – before crossing the finish line.

“You are you. Now, isn’t that pleasant?” – Dr. Seuss

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[bctt tweet=”You are you. Now, isn’t that pleasant? – Dr. Seuss #RechargeWednesday #Linkup” username=”PatHolbrook”]

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[bctt tweet=”LINKUP party is Open! A run in the park got me thinking about the almost irresistible tendency we often have to strive to keep up with someone else’s pace. Join us and share your blog! ” username=”PatHolbrook”]