Punch Through: 21km/2 hours
 
A few months ago I took part in the AMBank KL International Marathon. My goal was to complete the half marathon which would be a 21km run around town. For weeks, I prepared myself for this run. I would go to the gym to strengthen my legs. Hamstring squats, quad lunges, calve raises and leg exercises to push the limits of my legs. I even changed my running routine. Instead of measuring my runs based on time, I decided to measure my performance in distance. 4.75km runs slowly became 9km... 13km... 15km... Soon, I was running for approximately 1 hour 35 mins, non stop and with a constant speed of 9.5kmph for 45 months. I was determined to finish this race! Even my iPod shuffle stopped working during the process of my training! By God's grace, I did finish the race. I finished in 302nd place (against 1137 other runners) with a time of 2:00:21. Twenty one seconds shy of 2 hours!! I FINISHED THE RACE!! As I sat down to think about what I achieved, I realize that there was something divine that I learnt on this race. Paul wrote in his letters to the church about running the race of faith. How were as athletes need to push our bodies and discipline it so that it would follow our every command. The bible says: I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified" (1 Corinthians 9:25, 27) During the first hour of the race, I was struggling to keep up with everyone else. I saw younger and older runners pick up speed and overtake me. One by one, they pass me effortlessly. I felt so discouraged but I pushed on! Before the race, I had decided in my mind that I wanted to finish the race no matter what the cost. I decided to follow one of the marathon pacers ( they are voluntary runners who wear a vest over their shirts with the words "Punch Through. 21km/2 hours). The pacer kept me in time and encouraged me to push on. It was really great to have someone to follow and to keep me in pace! After the first hour, I began to pick up speed and began to overtake people. It felt great! Though the road sloped up, I was amazed at how I was able to pass people. It was a great boost to my self esteem to see myself pass some of the people who had passed me earlier in the race. As I ran on, and I saw a couple people I got to know before the race. I stayed with them for awhile, exchanged encouragements and I ran on leaving them to finish the race on their own pace. Throughout the race, I told myself that I needed to finish the race. It really did not matter what position I was in. I just wanted to be at the finish line and soak in the glory of being a half-marathoner! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I learnt that day that our walk of faith is like that of a marathon, we need to be diligent. Like an athlete who trains his body to perform, so must we, as children of God. We do not immediately become good christians when we accept Him. It's not natural for us and it requires preparation and training, a single minded focus to finish well. To be good at what we do, we need to prepare, practice and ultimately perform. Only a foolish runner would enter a race without preparation. The race of faith is one that is long and trying. A runner has to condition himself to go against the odds, he has to eat properly, exercise daily and condition His mind to think positively. The same goes with how we live our faith. Like a runner, we have to pace ourselves. You see, in any race, someone will always overtake you. It’s discouraging! There will be times where we feel that we are going no where. There is no progress. We see people moving along. Say, some have a wonderful encounter with God and it "speeds" them up and they go further and deeper. We are left feeling unsatisfied, even jealous. We feel like giving up when the race is barely at half point! Oh! Beware! Pace yourself! Because it is not just those who run ahead that count in the race of faith. It’s how you paced yourself throughout your life's journey that matters most. The last person to finish the same race I ranked 1137 placing. He finished the race and I am sure would have been just as contented as the first place runner. Both reached the finish line, only at different times. Some of the runners ran far ahead of me, but only to burnout later. Finish the race. And finish it well. Can I say that some who ran ahead had the form but without the power? Some played church Sunday after Sunday until they got tired of it. Have you noticed christians do that? They once had a flourishing ministry but through the years, their passion died and disappeared from sight. Pace yourself! Do so and you may find yourself passing others. An encounter with God would catapult you to a new reality of Christ. Push on! You realize that it will change how you see life. You will respond to circumstances differently. You will grow and mature in the things of God. Some of your peers are left behind. But don't desert them but continue to encouragement them to finish the race! I stayed with them for awhile and reminded them that the finish line was just around the corner. I had to move on. Yes, it was comfortable being with my friends and enjoyed their slow pace, but I knew that I had to move on to finish the race by myself. Marathons are ran alone, no different from our lives and so we must decide the outcome of our lives. Our calling is to fulfill our Master's call. We will have to give an account of how we led our lives. We can't blame anyone for slowing us down. Neither can we blame anyone if our way. We can't point fingers and say "Oh! Circumstances were against me. I was poor. I lack resources. I can't speak well. I was too busy. I was not aware!" How much we grow in faith is a result of our desperation to seek Him. The promises and blessings that we receive from God is only as much as we dare to believe Him for it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We need to grow. And we do that by constantly loading on God’s Word just as how a marathon runner loads on carbohydrates and protein. Without God, the source of our strength, we will never be able to finish the race. We will burn up and call it quits!
Sunday, 21 March, 2006