[Run to Win] Running With Perseverance Sample

Striving and Working

Do you know that you are not alone in this world or this life? Many athletes have said they feel like they are alone in a crowd. No one understands them; they see themselves in a fishbowl with everyone looking in.

Is that how you feel sometimes? Paul addressed this feeling in his letter to the church at Colossae when he referred to the training and practice necessary for running a good race of life. Paul stated that he continued to work, to labor, striving—running the race—according to God’s plan.

Paul also brought to light the connection between his work and the Lord’s working on his behalf. This means two important things:

First, Paul was not alone in his work, labor, and striving in this world. Paul had the Lord God working right along with him.

Second, God’s strength, power, and might worked mightily within him. Not only was Paul not alone, but when he felt like he was beaten down, God’s strength carried him and picked him back up—that’s what Colossians 1:29 means, when it says God was “working mightily” within him.

This combination of God working alongside and within you is God’s working style. God’s strength enables you to rise above your natural limitations and to see the world from His point of view, one where you see Him right alongside you. This view allows you to work diligently and continue striving even when weary. God’s power within you is a promise from God, and it can energize you to keep going and run well the race of the Christian life.

Thank You, Lord, for Your promise that You are with me and that Your power will energize me. I see that the combination of my labor and Your working (alongside and in me) energizes me to run the Christian life-race well.