Health for the Body

The Race After the Race.
The Starting Line at the Finish Line

One February 24, 2001 I arrived at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida with my running partner and friend Ellen Gerlecz. We had trained safely for a marathon which was to be the finale' of a two year process. Our joining and the running of this marathon took us or put us through a process in which our physical training mirrored what would soon take place in our spiritual lives. Although I had very little understanding of what the result of all this would be, when a woman I knew asked me what I was running for I said with no hesitation, “I’m running for my life.” Later on my friend Vera Booker wrote, “The walk has been for character building; the run has been for purpose.” Finally, my apostle F. Nolan Ball said that things happen, "first in the natural then the spiritual." Therefore, our running had served as a prophetic gesture.

The Blue Angels flew overhead and we were off. Groups of runners were excitedly and with great anticipation running together chatting about the race. As mile after mile marker passed, groups began to thin out. Some of the runners slowly moved ahead and others seemed to be dropping back. Like a smooth dance all the runners seemed to find their place, and quietness was a subtle overtone to the now seriousness of the day. Ellen and I stayed together until the fourteenth mile when we said goodbye and I reluctantly moved on. By mile eighteen I had to encourage myself, because looking around I knew no one and weariness was evident on each body I saw. There were runners who began to walk and some who began to cry. The fatigue was obvious even to the cheering by-standers straining to see the runner they had come to support. By the faces of some of the moms, dads, husbands and children standing by the road I realized there were runners in this race who had overcome even greater obstacles that this twenty-six mile run. They had matching t-shirts and colored ribbons with posters naming their causes. I also had to overcome obstacles in my journey to this race. Like the others, I also had a t-shirt with my cause, and on it was a simple yet profound statement by Apostle Ball, "Meet me at the Finish Line."For a girl like me, making it to the finish line was not an obvious conclusion. In fact, some five years earlier I wondered if there was any place in Yahweh's kingdom for a girl like me. Over a period of time as I had begun to run, enrolled in college, and was in the second mile of a three mile race, I heard, "What I couldn't do with a girl like you!" I am always amazed, but never surprised that the faithfulness of Yahweh’s word for me shows up at just the right time. There was a time when I was facing some difficult things and felt it was taking all my strength to not bend under the weight. I was holding onto the chair back in front of me when Ben Sharit, a man who had been interceding on behalf of his wife a long time for what has been considered an incurable illness, handed me a piece of paper which he had written,Yahweh is faithful. . . What could I not do now?As I saw the sign marking mile eighteen I did not feel like it was a great accomplishment. It was still more than eight miles to the finish line and more than double to go back. So I continued on mile after mile, one step at a time. As I rounded the corner and could make out the finish line I reached down to pull the last of energy, strength, hope and desire to finish the race. I thought of my children Jason, then twenty-one and my daughter Acacia, eleven years old waiting for me at the finish line. I thought of others who had come to see Ellen and I run and I was humbled and filled with gratitude.The thought that had been with me the days before the race and now during the race was amazement, amazement that Yahweh would use me. In His infinite glory and wisdom He had remembered me and He had made a place for me. As I crossed the finish line I did not expect the rush of emotion I felt. A lifetime of struggles and many obstacles seemed like they were now fought, overcome and finished in a day.As my foot stepped on the rubber mat at the finish line, the only soft place of the day, I heard a voice within say, "This is the starting line." This is the starting line? My first response was to consider how far I had just run. Not only the hours of this day and the miles logged throughout it, but the hundreds of miles I had run the prior two years in preparation for this most looked forward to race. Again I repeated, "This is the starting line?" Had this journey that incorporated a process led me to a starting line and not a finish line?

As I pondered this and tried to come to terms with its implications, I knew it was imperative to look at the process that brought me to this starting line.Romans 5:3-4 is a process by which faith is worked out and walked out. It says,

"We rejoice in our sufferings (tribulations), knowing that suffering (tribulations) produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because Yahweh has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."

Although I thought the process that allowed me to successfully respond right through all the previous trials and many prior hardships was in effect, the purpose, I now realized that not going through or getting through was the important part. What was to be a life message and of greatest lasting value was that the importance of the process was in its ability to position me to begin a race. It was the race after the race and the process that only just now qualified me to run it. I learned that obedienceto Yahweh's word was about the choosing, not the calling, "for many are called, few are chosen" (Matthew 20:16).
Your life is like a race! The same discipline, perseverance, endurance and strength needed to run the longest race, a marathon, can be compared to the some of the same principles necessary to live a live full of purpose with dedication to truth and acceptance of personal responsibility. As my strength and perseverance increased, so did my vision.

If we do not train, we cannot compete.
If we do not compete, we cannot win.
We cannot reach a goal for which we have no vision.
We can train others, but disqualify ourselves.
We cannot obtain the prize if we disobey the rules.
Olympians do this for temporary glory and a temporary prize.
We do this for eternal glory and a prize that will not fade away.
-Apostle F. Nolan Ball