Facing the Challenge

by Jennifer Haynie @JenniferHaynie1

Three years ago, when I was really into running, I had a thought. What would it be like to do a point-to-point run the entire length of the Black Creek Greenway? For those of you not familiar with the Triangle area, the Black Creek Greenway is one of our local greenways. It runs from I-40 down to the heart of Cary, a stretch of 7.1 miles.

It never happened, either because I was too busy, too lazy, or because I worried I wouldn’t make it.

Again, it stuck in my mind as I started running in the spring—until I fell when my foot hit a crack in the sidewalk while training. I still have the scars on my left elbow and both knees. It threw a scare into me, and I didn’t run again until May.

I also faced unexpected challenges related to my health. Nothing serious, but it was enough to catch my attention and make me aware of how valuable exercise should be in my life.

As April turned to May, I began running again. Slowly, I stretched those distances and supplemented my running with walking and cycling. I told myself that by Labor Day, I’d run the Black Creek Greenway in its entirety.

God had other plans. He had a challenge for me.

Do it two weeks earlier than anticipated.

I knew I had the training in. Then came my decision. I’d run it two weeks earlier than I’d planned. But could I do it?

With God’s strength, I could do this run.

Friday afternoon after work, I did. With a prayer for blessing on my run, I took off. The only places I stopped were where I had to cross busy roads. When I reached the end of the trail, joy filled me. I’d stepped out in faith that God would give me the strength needed, and He did.

It provided encouragement to me. As I mentioned earlier, this spring and summer have presented challenges I never anticipated. But God is good. He carries me through these challenges. He is with me and is the Lord of my todays, my tomorrows, my days, and my nights.

What challenges do you face right now? We all have them, and we didn’t before, this spring and summer have definitely introduced a whole host of unanticipated challenges.

How do we respond to them?

It’s easy to avoid them, just like I avoided for years the challenge of running a longer distance out of fear I wouldn’t be able to do it.

Do we bull through without much thought? We can. Sometimes it’s a simple matter of getting out there and just doing it.

Or do we cast our fears, our worries, and our concerns on God and let Him carry us? Sometimes, that’s all we can do is trust that God will see us to the other side.

No matter what your challenge, that is my prayer for you, that You will trust God, who is sovereign, to carry you through your challenge.

God is good. He carries us through challenges, and in Him, we can find the strength we need to overcome. #authenticity #encouragement Click To Tweet

Question: How have you tackled your most recent challenge?

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