“Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43.19 NKJV).
People stared at me as I sprinted past the running point, beginning my race twenty minutes late. I still had over five miles left to run and had already run over two miles to get there. My only thought was to get to the halfway point because my number bib pinned to my shirt had the scanner on it. I was the one who would clock my team into the race. If I didn’t make it, we would be disqualified. The first water stand was closed when I passed it. Empty paper cups scattered the sand. I couldn’t see any runners for several minutes until, on the other side of the course, I began seeing runners headed back to the starting point. It was difficult not to get discouraged. I felt like a goofball running a race with no one around me. When I finally saw the halfway point with the scanner, the attendant looked surprised to see me. However, as I turned the corner, my team’s number was scanned. Our team had made it, but we were in last place. That’s when I picked up the pace. I could see people before me, and I started passing them one by one. I swiftly ran by more and more people, and I finally felt part of the race. There was another water stand, but I didn’t stop to get a drink. No time to waste. My heart pounded in my chest, and all I could think was that it would be over soon. I just needed to find my teammate waiting to run the second leg. I desperately looked for her. When I finally saw her smiling face, I sprinted faster. I handed her the baton and couldn’t say a word. I just waved her on. I rested for several minutes, heaving air into my lungs. Then I had to walk/jog the over two miles back to where my husband was waiting in his truck. My 8-to-8.5-minute mile run with the added 20-minute delay made my run a 12–13-minute mile run—still not too bad, considering I could have outed our team from the race. Plus, our team placed fairly well for our age group and gender. In all, I ran about 10 miles that day. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t let my team down. I see this story as a metaphor for life. Sometimes, we get lost, and it takes a sprint to find our way back. But we can’t give up. We must trust that God will make a way where we don’t see one. He knows we are not perfect and that we make mistakes. However, He loves us and wants us to succeed. We can run as fast as we can according to His will, knowing that He will soon give us rest and we will be at the right place in His Kingdom Plan.
Have you ever gotten lost, literally or figuratively? Lost in wrong thinking? Lost in a bad relationship? Lost in difficult situation? Seek God. You are never lost to Him, and He will bring you to a place of being found, healed and loved.
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