Running has always been such a great outlet for me. It gives me dedicated time to be alone with God, praying and worshiping. Last year, I listened to the entire Bible over the course of my runs. Imagine combining a runner’s “high” and being filled with the Holy Spirit. Those were some great runs.
But over the past few weeks, I got off of my running schedule. Too much work and not enough daylight this time of the year. And for whatever reason, the joy of running seemed far off and distant lately. I just couldn’t find the motivation to run. And anytime I take a break from running, I can feel it in my body and soul. That probably explains why I have been struggling with finding consistent joy in my day lately.
Today, I made a change. I finally got myself up early and out of bed on Saturday and headed to my favorite trail for a run. It was 30 degrees with a north wind blowing the chilly air around on this November morning but the sun was out in full force and warmed my face.
Just like every run, I picked a podcast on my phone from one of my favorite pastors, hit play, and took off down the trail. About five minutes into my run, the sermon stopped suddenly. Maybe I accidently hit pause. I tried to re-start it. No luck. OK. Maybe I needed to switch to my worship music playlist. Found my favorite song to start with, hit play, and continued on my run. But 30 seconds later – silence. The music wouldn’t play anymore. For whatever reason, I had no signal.
I’ll be honest, in the past, this type of technological malfunction would leave me feeling a bit frustrated. Well, normally a lot frustrated. Today though was different. Instead of getting mad and letting this glitch ruin my run, I embraced it.
I remember Pastor Curt from my church challenging the men during our bible study earlier this year to be still and look for God in everyday moments. And that’s what I did. For 25 minutes on the running trail, it was just God and me. I prayed for clarity on the best way to work on my ministry. I prayed for God to work his will through me, to give me the courage and confidence to get back to writing. I prayed for the wisdom that I needed to better answer the difficult questions I have been getting about my testimony.
And sure enough, God delivered the clarity I’ve been looking for, the desire I needed to write again (hence this blog today), the response to the difficult questions I have to answer about my past.
When I finished my run, I checked my phone to see why I couldn’t get any music to play. It was clear I had no signal for some reason. I finally discovered the issue. My cellular network was turned off. That was three clicks deep into the settings of my phone. There was no way for me to get to it while running. It was God. He wanted my full and undivided attention this morning. I’m so glad I embraced this opportunity.
Thank you God for showing me how to find joy in my running and writing again. All glory to Him.