As the week has progressed, I have been very pleased at how quickly I have recovered from my marathon on Sunday. I have already seemed to have forgotten the difficulties encountered and have tentatively set my sites on another race in March 2007. I am either crazy, committed, forgetful, or a combination of all three.
Since this was a recovering week (no running), I was able to do some thinking. And as I did, I began to realize there are many similarities between running a marathon and serving as a missionary. If you take the time to read this, I think it will help you be able to better understand the challenges of both running a marathon and being a missionary.
Marathons and Ministry
First, there is the preparation phase. To properly prepare for a marathon, you must put in a good effort in training. This requires commitment and focus. But besides preparation you need to keep balanced with appropriate rest intervals. Too much training leads to burn out and injuries. And on top of all this you must maintain good nutrition. The stresses of training can be offset with a properly balanced diet.
Ministry requires the same. You have to be prepared. You must spend time working hard. But you need to keep rested. And you must constantly be fed on the Word. All of this is extremely important to the ability to finish the race set before you.
Second, in a marathon, you must not get distracted by how others are doing. It is easy to begin comparing yourself early in the race with other runners. Others may seem to be going faster and smoother. You will be tempted to keep pace with them. And this can lead to problems down the road if this is not the pace for which you have been made or prepared for.
Ministry is the same. Others seem to land in a new place and "take off." They have many successes. They are growing faster and bigger and "better." And yet, we must avoid this temptation. It proves nothing except how much we want to be personally recognized (pride). It can lead to terrible burn out as the race progresses.
Thirdly, pain and problems are inevitable in a race. It doesn't matter whether you are a world class marathoner or a back of pack jogger. Eventually the grueling race will challenge each runner physically and emotionally. And this pain will cause doubt and discouragement. There may even be a sense of loneliness and despair as you fight off the urge to quit and the negative thinking that you won't be able to finish well.
This is very obvious in ministry. Pain and problems are inevitable. It may be a sense of loss and missing home. It may be a sense of losing control. People will disappoint you. And there will be an incredible urge to quit at times. In ministry, there is a temptation to believe that no one understands how painful this particular situation is. And right in the middle of the race, there doesn't seem to be much comfort in thinking that others are also suffering. Pain is painful. Period.
And this is where the lessons from running marathons has really helped me in dealing with the pain and problems of ministry/missions. During a race, it's not about how painful the pain is, it is more of matter of how am I going to deal with it. Am I going to sit down and cry? Am I going to quit? Am I going to slow down, take a short break, refuel, and carry on? These are the questions that arise when the cramps and fatigue start hitting you in the middle of a race.
Obviously, one must decide whether the pain is a normal part of pushing yourself, or is it a warning to something more serious at hand. If the answer is just that this pain is a normal "to be expected" type of pain, the ability to finish the race well totally depends on the following: preparation and commitment. If I am well prepared, if I have trained adequately, I will be able to finish the race. But, I must be committed to this and perservere even if it means swallowing my pride and finishing slower than I had planned.
And this, I am finding, very adequately relates to dealing with pain in ministry. If the pain is life threatening, I need to quit before it is too late. And there should not be any indignity in this. But, if it is the "to be expected" type of pain, then I must rely on the preparation I have done and recommitment myself to perservere. This is where the rubber meets the road. This is where we learn to suck it up and ask God for the grace to push on. This is where we learn to humble ourselves to our expectations and rely on God to give us the second and third and fourth "winds" to carry on. This is where we find out how big God is in His ability to "carry" us to the finish line.
I find it very comforting that the Apostle Paul used the race metaphor when he told us to "run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith." (Hebrews 12:1-2). The Christian faith is a race set before us. We need to prepare for this race, we need to find times of rest, we must be nourished, we must not focus on others, we must expect pain, and we must persevere. All for His glory!
This is a great post. Thanks for saying it so perfectly.
With prayers from another runner/missionary in Haiti.
Posted by: Tara Livesay | November 08, 2006 at 09:42 PM