No matter what path your race takes you on, what is most important is that you are running it for God. For you, that may look like doing your best work at your job and respecting your boss, or it may involve a significant sacrifice like giving up certain friends and habits or moving to another country. God has a plan for you, and He has equipped you to not just do it, but to do it well. If you are struggling to believe that, let these verses encourage you in your race today:
Hebrews 12:1-2: “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Joshua 1:9: “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”
1 Corinthians 9:24-25: “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.”
Galatians 6:9: “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”
Philippians 3:13-14: “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
Isaiah 43:2: “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.”
Proverbs 16:9: “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.”
2 Timothy 4:7-8: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”
James 1:12: “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”
We all have a race to run, and you can be encouraged that while you’re the only one who can run yours, you’re never alone in it. You have the Holy Spirit running alongside you and the whole Church cheering you on, so run your race well, knowing that no matter how difficult it feels, God is still in control, and His reward is what awaits you at the finish line!