Life's a Marathon

Jack (right) in his 42-km marathon

It's Sunday morning, jogging time. Not mine, silly, but Jack's.

Me? I'd rather curl up in bed, savor my no-rush day and drink in Pastor Charles Stanley's living-water-teaching on TV.

Sunday morning jogs are pretty much cast in concrete as far as my husband is concerned. Since he could not walk or jog on weekdays because of work, he makes sure that Sunday AMs are his and his jogmates' alone.

He's done this for the past 29 years and will probably do so until he finds himself walking heaven's streets of gold. Oh, wouldn't that just be the day for all of us?!
Araw runners in 1984

You can call Jack a certified marathoner, having finished his 42-km with his Araw Running Club mates when he was as light as a feather. He still runs with the very same folks every Sunday, capping each run with breakfast either at Tropical Hut Hamburger, another restaurant in BF or a member's house.
Araw runners today
Jack is also one of our teachers in our 20-year bible study group. And you guessed it, one of his favorite topics is Life Being a Marathon, based on Paul's encouragement to, "Run with patience the race set before us" (Hebrews 12:1).

So let me summarize his lesson here:

1. Life is a marathon, not a sprint. Life is not a 60 or 100-meter event but a long drawn-out race which can turn into tiresome and painstaking plodding--- a discouraging experience if you don't pace yourself as you go through the entire 42-km route under the extreme heat of the sun, battering rain, gusty winds, or suffocating smog from vehicles plying the streets.

So take it easy. Life has its challenges but life is also about triumphing over adversities, those daily disappointments which nibble at our spirit to make us want to give up. God's plan is for us to achieve our purpose. Trials are there to strengthen us, testing our faith so we can cling on to Him for wisdom and strength.

2. Wear light. Marathoners are advised to wear singlets (polyester, not cotton), sandos so light your body is constantly aired as you run---unlike heavy jogging pants and jackets which are just too much baggage, making you perspire a wee bit more, resulting in dehydration and even fainting.

Our lives can be like that too. We carry way too much weight we just could not move on. I used to be this way, walking around without joy in my heart, until I encountered Jesus as my Lord and Savior. He also removed the brick-like heaviness in my heart caused by years of worrying and fears, resentment, unforgiveness, anger and hatred.

3. Hydrate yourself. A marathoner knows that his immediate objective---once he starts running---is the next water station. As you run and perspire, take advantage of every water station placed along the entire 42-km route so you can replenish your body fluids, especially the electrolyte which sustains you for the entire run.

In my book, "Going Up," I wrote about filling ourselves up daily with "spirelyte". We need to be filled with the Spirit of God to sustain us through a day. And it doesn't come from any form of drinking water which you pay for. It's offered free and even to overflowing as we seek Him daily through prayer and studying His Word which is life and light!

4. Huwag makinig sa mga kantyawero. Be deaf to voices that will discourage you. These are the bystanders who poke fun at slow runners, saying, "Hey, fatso, you cannot make it. Sumakay ka na lang! (Take a ride instead!) Jack tells me that this pambubuska or taunting happens only in the Philippines, but not in races abroad like the Boston marathon.

Didn't we at one time or another hear these voices?:

"You cannot make it." "You're bobo." "Ikaw ang pinakamahina sa lahat!" Walang mangyayari sa yo!" You will amount to nothing!"

Well, that's the enemy saying, "God has abandoned you!"

That's a total lie, because Jesus says, "I have come to give you life and life more abundant." He is the author and the finisher of our faith. He is the great I am who created us and breathed His life into us---mere dust whom God has chosen to manifest His love.

The great I AM who's also the beginning and the end, He therefore holds our life and everything about us in His strong mighty hand!

At the end of their 42-km marathon, the Araw members awarded themselves each with a trophy, sort of high-five-ing themselves, "We've made it!"

"You've made it!" That's probably what we'll hear too from the Father as He welcomes us to the finish line, that eternal divide which spells eternal joy and peace for those who believed in Jesus.

Then we will receive our reward---not just a trophy but a crown of life which will never perish and or be eaten by moth or stolen by any thief.