Running the Race

Hebrews 12:1-2

Jesus, Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, 
and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

emphasis added 

I had a dream a few months ago.  I dreamed of being on a run (with a goat...I know, weird).  I looked up at one point and there was a huge dirt devil - my thought was, 

"That is gonna make a mess."

I found shelter under a huge rock that formed a cavern type feel off to the side of the road.  

As I huddled under the ROCK (with a goat and a pig...I know, weird) and I looked up, I saw that the dirt devil had turned into a full blown tornado.

The tornado was big and powerful and it dropped down and picked up a building.  

I watched that building whip around in that tornado, the tornado moved the building a little distance and then set it down. 

 Once it was set down everything was peaceful and calm and the tornado was gone.

I looked at the building that had been "moved" and it was in perfect shape - no damage - and as I looked closer I realized it was a church.  

And then I woke up.

God gave me this dream at a key time in our lives.

  I know He was showing me something that HE was doing.

Recently we have "changed" or "moved" where we attend church. 

 We are LOVING our new church.

  We LOVED our old church.

Now we get to LOVE more, LOVE both!!!

 We attended our old church for 13 years before God picked us up and moved us to exactly where He wanted us to grow and learn and fellowship and run the race that He has set before us.

The Bible tells us that we are all "one church, one body, the body of Christ". 

 We believe both churches are running the same race....the race we have all been called to, but we have a bit of a different "stride" or a different "trail" to accomplish our race. 

Romans 12:4-10

English Standard Version (ESV)

⁴ For as in one body we have many members,^[a] and the members do not all have the same function, ⁵ so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. ⁶ Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;⁷ if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; ⁸ the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads,^[b] with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

⁹ Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. ¹⁰ Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

In order for us to run the race - as our particular part and use our natural stride - the Lord picked us up and "moved" us. 
 He gently and perfectly placed us in a different church fellowship to run the race alongside.

Yes, there was a dirt devil that had potential to make a big mess, because otherwise I really believe we would have remained "comfortable" and not stopped stepping on toes trying to fit into everyone else's stride and fit on everyone else's trail. 

 We also would have missed all that He had waiting for us just a few miles away, a bunch of people with the same stride and trail preferences.

(we like the rugged trail, that is a bit on the edge)

We love the people of our old church family and our new church family. 
 They are all brothers and sisters in Christ.  We will be spending eternity with these people, and we will also live in community on this earth with ALL of them. 

We will continue to run the race - just as the folks from the old and new fellowship are doing - but God has so lovingly placed us in a "pace group" that fits our "stride and trail".

We are in awe of how the Lord has been so good and loving and we are encouraged. 

 We have found a rhythm and we have caught our second wind.  

We love to see our former "pace group"; we wave, and high five, belly bump, fanny slap as we all pass one another on the main road before we head onto different "trails".

We are exactly where we should be.  We have began running the race with a "pace group" that is unbelievably good for us and to us,and we are running alongside each other with a stride that is natural and energizing and fun.

God is GOOD and we are so blessed to be a part of the BODY OF CHRIST and He has a place for all of us that we can grow and learn and be used in all our natural and weird and crazy strides and trails in life.

1 Corinthians 12:12-20

English Standard Version (ESV)

One Body with Many Members

¹² For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves^[a] or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

¹⁴ For the body does not consist of one member but of many.¹⁵ If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? ¹⁸ But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. ¹⁹ If all were a single member, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts,^[b] yet one body.