GO AT YOUR OWN PACE

“The Flagstaff 5” …Time: Saturday, 8:00 A.M….Place: Boulder Colorado…Course: Five miles up Flagstaff Mountain.
I really didn’t know what to expect. I had not run a competitive race since college decades before. I was unsure what my old, overweight body could do, even though I had been jogging consistently for several months. I had lost some weight, but not nearly enough. I wasn’t sure I could run this race, but I wanted to try.
So my beautiful trim wife and three girls sleepily climbed into the car early that Saturday morning to go “watch Daddy run.” It was a sacrifice for them to get up that early for the thirty mile drive to Boulder, and I appreciated their encouragement for “the old man.”
I got my first glance of that mountain as we passed the scenic overlook just outside Boulder. Its steep switchbacks were clearly visible in the morning sun, and I began to panic and asked for prayer. I wanted to turn around and go home, but Marleen (daughter #2) prayed, “Lord, help Daddy run his own race.” It was a simple and profound thought. It gave me hope that if I ran my own pace, I could make it. I knew I couldn’t run the pace of other, more conditioned athletes; but I could run at my own pace if I didn’t try to compare myself or keep up with them.
Well, I did run my own pace and even had to walk a few times, but I made it up that mountain. I was encouraged by a few runners who were going my pace, and we helped each other keep going.
We all have our own pace through life. Some are faster. Some are slower. But we all have to go our own pace and not try to compare ourselves with others. If we go too fast, we get exhausted, burn out and fail to finish. If we go too slowly, we get lazy, lethargic, and fail to contribute what we can to others.
As Jacob said to Esau, “Let my lord pass on ahead of his servant, and I will lead on slowly at our own pace and meet you at Seir” (Gen 33:14). They both were heading to the same place at a different pace. Both would make it. We are all heading to the heart of our Father in heaven and we will all make it at our own pace.