Can you see it? You are watching the Boston Marathon and realize in the middle of the road sits a rocking chair with a young man on it. Quietly he rocks, swaying back and forth as each runner passes him. He looks pretty rested and peaceful but neatly etched into his brows to where you can barely identify it are lines of anxiousness. Listening to the pounding of the runners around him, he laces up his shoes but continues rocking. Occasionally it looks like he wants to get up but he only remains seated. Later after the race, you walk up to the man and ask why he remained sitting in that rocking chair.
“Well,” he answers, “I wanted to get up and join the other runners, but I was comfortable and occupied in my rocking chair. I didn’t see any need to get up and run.”
When you ask him why he entered the race he excitedly replies, “Oh, I’ve always wanted to run a marathon!”
Confused, you may walk away, but you will never forget that man sitting in the rocking chair. How often are we sitting in our own rocking chairs, comfortable and occupied, with dreams and goals swirling around in our heads, as others run past us fulfilling the desires of their hearts?
My entire life I have had trouble with procrastination. I see the big picture and get overwhelmed. I may be very excited about the vision God has placed in my heart but fears, anxieties and worries, motivate me to procrastinate as long as I can. I have a friend who is in charge of organizing most of her family’s ministry projects and one afternoon she was telling me all the things she had to do over the next month.
“How do you get all of that done on time?” I asked her.
Smiling she replied, “I just do a little bit each week.”
This post was a struggle for me to get done. I kept looking at the notes on my desk and thinking, “Oh, I’ll do that later.” But the problem is, sometimes “later” never comes. There was a quote I found that said, “Run, even when you don’t feel like it, because it’s in those moments you probably need it.” Think about it. Without the tough days in our life, we’d never grow, we’d never get smarter, and we’d never get stronger.
Personally, I need to stop waiting for the perfect weather before going for a run because sometimes, that perfect weather never comes.
Have a Blessed Week and Happy Running!
***By the way, there is such a thing as a Rocking Chair Marathon. Look it up. Just keep in mind, they never get anywhere. ***
Be Still and Run 