Recently, my boyfriend and I went to San Francisco to pick up our bibs for a race we were going to run. While meandering through the streets, I saw runner after runner with goals that were much more insane than the ones my 5K-running boyfriend and I had.
They were training for the SF Marathon (a 26.2-mile race!!). One athlete that stuck out to me was wearing a heavily weighted vest and a look that told me he’d been training for way too long. I mean, he looked exhausted. As he hustled on by I thought to myself, “Dang, that dude looks dead-tired. But he’s going to be so conditioned after this!” I knew those weights would help him become stronger even though at that moment he looked like he was going to pass out.
I often have this same view when looking at my own struggles. My battle with PTSD, depression, and sin may weigh me down, but I keep persisting because I know that carrying these burdens will only make me stronger. Can I get an “Amen!”? Right?? Well…
The other day the image of the running man came to mind. This image caught me at a time I was juggling the weight of the world on my shoulders. At that point, it didn’t feel like I was getting stronger, but weaker.
These burdens were so heavy and so present in my life.
They slowly chipped away at my soul and became a bigger part of my identity than the hope I found in Jesus’ name.
That’s when a little piece of realization hit me square in the face: The running dude wasn’t going to wear his vest forever. In order to increase his speed, he would eventually have to lay down his heavy cargo and continue his race without any extra burdens. This was a vital step in my journey that I was missing. To be honest, I thought that trying to lift all the heavy in my own heart would make me stronger, but what I was really doing was exercising my pride.
As we can see in Acts 12, miraculous freedom from our chains comes from the divine authority of God. So, persistence and endurance are definitely important for our faith, but ultimately we need to allow God to set us free from what keeps our hearts in chains so we can run our race, serve Jesus, and love the world.
What weights in your life do you need to lay down?