“God Makes No Junk”

November 20, 2020

I am coaching a young woman to run the 10k. She is one of the fastest runners in the Northeast part of our country. Our goal is to Qualify for the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile in 2023 and hopefully the Olympic Trials (To Be Determined in 2021) and Olympics in Paris in 2024.  Sounds like a long time to train, right? But much like flying you can’t study the approach 10 minutes out. You study the approach at least an hour out from landing. My training plan is to start with LSD – Long Slow Distance. That builds the engine of your body. Running long and slow builds incredible endurance. Once you have that base then you can start doing interval workouts. There is so much more to it but I think she can do it. She is married with a young child and teaches 2nd grade. So I know she has patience:) 1 Corinthians 9:24,25 “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to take the prize. 25Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline. They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable.” We all want to win but there is a bigger work going on in the heavens. Winning for Christians is staying the course with discipline, love and hope. Three years ago I threw out all my medals, ribbons and trophies. I did not want to live in the past anymore. I wanted to look forward to the future. It is easy to live from our past accomplishments. But we as Christians are called to a different kind of trophy.  We need to train which means reading the word, worship and praying in discipline. Training takes time and extreme effort if you want the prize. Fortunately for us we have already won the prize because of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But there is also a prize we can give back to our Lord. I love the saying “What you are is God’s gift to you, what you become is your gift to God.” Warriors there is so much more that we can become. I don’t care how young or old you are. If you are reading this then God still has a purpose for you. His purposes are never mundane!!!   In my coaching this woman for the Olympics I have told her that 30% of the coaching will be on perspective. Our mind is so powerful that we can lose before we even start the race. We can feel defeated, be worrisome, think we are not adequate and that we don’t deserve the prize. Warriors we all deserve the prize because of Jesus. That is because Hebrews 12:2 “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Jesus paid OUR PRICE. We are forgiven, restored and destined for greatness. God makes no junk. I’ll say it again, God makes no junk. Don’t look at what others do. Pray and ask the Lord what you should do. We are all destined for greatness. Brad