I Didn’t Sign Up For This…

Pastor Randy Corbin,  Transitional Lead Pastor

Most of us were probably disappointed that the Social Distancing was extended to April 30, putting a kink in some of our plans and hopes.  When we set those plans, we did not see this coming.

A pastor-friend of mine, in one of his sermons, cited the story of a female runner who several years ago signed up for a 10k race in Columbus, OH.  The problem was that she got in the wrong start-up group.  No sooner did the race begin when she realized she mistakenly entered the marathon race also set for the same day.

Rather than dropping out, she ran the race to its finish.  When she was asked at the end of the race why she continued, she said, “It wasn’t the race I trained for, but it was the race I was in.”

Some of us may be running a race we didn’t train for as well.  We expected our life to be different than it has unfolded.  Instead, there have been barriers, conflicts, and challenges that we never anticipated.  At the start of our marriage, we had dreams of the perfect family, but instead, we find ourselves in a race we didn’t expect with challenges we never considered.  Our current life situation may not be what we would have selected, but here we are.  It is the race we are in.

Yet, the race we are in is His race.  It is not the one we thought we were signing up for and not the one we felt we were training for, but it is God’s race.

I am sorry for the pain, hurt, disappointment, and heartache.  We didn’t train for this, but the ultimate ability to win the race does not lie within ourselves anyway.  It rests with Christ in us.  He designed the track, allows the terrain, and permits the ambushes.  He assures us of His presence, power, and promises.  His Spirit coaches us and His Word refreshes us.
It is a race with purpose: to showcase His glory and power whether the course is uphill or downhill.  His might reigns!

So with our head thrown back and our chest forward, we are running His course in His strength to complete the race for His glory.  Not the one we necessarily trained for but the one we are in by His design!

“I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14, NIV)