Be Adaptable by Trusting God

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV

In a story titled “I Break the Golden Rule of Running Every Race. You Should, Too,” the writer said “There’s an adage that most runners have heard at some point: “Nothing new on race day.”It’s simple. You’re supposed to treat race day how you would your training runs, keeping things like your fueling, shoe choice, and routine similar. The time for experimenting is during the training block. On race day, there shouldn’t be any surprises that could throw you off. In my decade of competing, rarely has a race day gone to plan. I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve been thrown off my routine by a traffic jam or a poor night of sleep. By expecting things to go perfectly, you’re almost setting yourself up for failure. The key to race day, I’ve found, is to be adaptable.” The writer then went on to share a personal story that illustrated the importance of being adaptable. 

And, you know, when it comes to being adaptable or being able to adjust to new conditions so you don’t set yourself up for failure when your plans go wrong, the key for a believer is to trust in God with ALL their heart. You see, in running and in life there are always going to be surprises in the form of various trials that can and will throw us off our routines if we aren’t prepared for them. And you can be sure that, for the believer, our days will rarely ever go as planned. But… if we will choose to trust in the Lord with all our hearts and to not lean on our own understanding, submitting all our ways to Him, we can have the complete confidence that God will make our paths straight. Which means, no matter what happens or how many times we get thrown off of our routines, we can trust God’s plan for our lives and, therefore, have peace in the midst of all life’s changes. 

So, no matter what you’re going through today, choose to trust God with your whole heart my friend. Doing so will allow you to be adaptable, flexible, and resilient—which in return will allow you to continue to run the race when the conditions are less than favorable. 

Heavenly Father, thank You for the many ways you remind us that we, as believers, must be adaptable and resilient if we are to reach the finish line and inspire others along the way to do the same. Help us to trust You with our WHOLE hearts Lord that we will have faith that You are leading us on a better path when our path doesn’t go as planned. It’s in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!