Mapped Out

Hebrews 12:¹ “…we must let go of every wound that has pierced us and the sin we so easily fall into. Then we will be able to run life’s marathon race with passion and determination, for the path has been already marked out before us.” (TPT)

To finish strong, you must not only Remember That Heaven Is Watching You. You must Eliminate What Doesn’t Matter. The overload, the weights in our lives sometimes are because we just don’t say ‘no’ enough. Someone is pulling on your time, pulling on your resources, pulling on your energy and your response is, ‘Yes, yes, yes’. Learn to say, ‘no’. Guess what? Spiritual maturity, personal maturity is in your capacity to look at things and say ‘no’. I can have this chocolate but no. I can have this extra ice cream but no. I have this extra plate of food but no. I can do this and that, but no. You need to grow and for you to grow, you need to learn to say ‘no’.

Thirdly, you must Run God’s Race For You. You are not to run the race that culture has set for you because these days culture is setting races for everyone. You are not to run the race that your parents set for you. You are not to run the race that your friends set for you. You are not even to run the race that you set for yourself, because you can have unrealistic expectations. You are not to run the race that the economy, or culture have set before you. You should run the race that God has set for you. Hebrews 12:¹ “…And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.” (emphasis added). The truth is that if you run a race that others have set for you, there is only one outcome, no matter how fast you run.

If you run the race that others have set for you, you are going to lose. To run the race that culture has set for you is like running very fast in the wrong direction. And no matter how fast you run, you are still running in the wrong direction. Do not run the race that anyone but God has put before you. God does not give you enough strength to finish someone else’s race. Sometimes, you are running somebody else’s race and it is because you have always been compared to that sibling or cousin. So, you feel you have something to prove. But you are running somebody else’s race. You do not get a reward for running somebody else’s race. Run your own race.

God does not pay for what He did not order. If God did not order what you are doing, then He is not going to pay for it. The story is told of a university student who got into the exam hall and did not understand any of the questions. Meanwhile, he had read and read. So, he proceeded to set his own questions, answered them, and wrote, ‘quite excellently done’ (QED) at the end. You cannot set your own exam. You write the exam that has been set for you. God has put you on the path. You have to run your own race.

Prayer: Father, I ask for the grace to focus on and run God’s race for me, in Jesus Name. Amen!