1 Year of Racing - Making the Most of a Situation

Wow,


Today was my first "Anniversary" of racing and really this blog too. Kinda tends to force you into some reflection. This year has been full of opportunity for me. I thank God for that. It reminds me of a verse that says that He has given evrything that we need for life and godliness. Are we taking the opportunity that we are afforded by the blood of Christ. It is finished! We have everything that we need to live a righteous, victorious christian life. I feel I must clarify the word "victorious." This concept has been taken so far out of context by certain veins of the christian community that it really has hurt the church and the Name of Jesus. Victorious christian living is fleeing and overcoming sin. Have I been taking advantage of fleeing what the Bible has said is sin. A big FAT NO. So, with all this being said, I had a time today of 32:13. Last year, my time was 35:36. I am very excited about the progress and a little disheartened that it wasn't even more of a progression. I can attribute all of this lack of progress to a lack of discipline and my half-assed attitude towards everything in life, including my spiritual development.The book of Hebrews is my favorite book in the bible, if you can have a favorite... ha ha. It is all amazing. Anyway, here's what John Piper says about Hebrews"The Mystery of God's Providence in the Pain of our Lives
The book of Hebrews is a very mature and sober book when it comes to the pain and stress of Christian living and the endurance that it takes to run the race and fight the fight and finish well. It's not a book that people (especially teenagers and strong young adults) gravitate toward - unless they have suffered and struggle for some explanation of how that relates to God. In other words, the more easy and pain-free your life has been, the less you will cherish the kind of spirituality taught in this book. And the more you have suffered, the more you will cling to the precious teachings of this book - if you are willing to believe them.
That is a big if. I was talking with one of our members at the baptism service Wednesday evening, and he was telling me about recent conversations he had had with people who simply do not believe what this chapter teaches. It's not a little feel-good chapter about how to make the best of your troubles - or even about how God makes the best of your troubles. It is a massive statement about the gracious sovereignty of God over the evil that befalls his people. And the big IF is: will you believe this? Will you accept the mystery of God's providence in the pain of your life, and be trained by it (as verse 11 says) for the sake of good and peace and holiness and righteousness and life? Or will you kick against this chapter and demand in the season of suffering that God give a greater account of himself than he does in this chapter?" meaning 10...

So, all that to say is we are in a race and with our loving Father filtering everything through loving hands we can win the race that is set before us....