In an article published by Runner’s World yesterday titled “The Boring, Brutal Truth: You Have to Run Faster to Run Faster,” the writer said, “Sometimes it’s just that simple.”
Let me start by saying: No, you are not required to have a goal of running faster in order to call yourself a runner. But plenty of runners, including myself, do train to get faster. And here’s the secret: You have to run faster to run faster.
Yes, running longer, slower miles has incredible value to building stamina and endurance. Those easy runs increase the number, size, and density of the mitochondria—the powerhouse—in your cells, which means you become more energy efficient.
But in order for you to become a more fleet-footed runner, your workouts need to be done at quicker paces. In many cases, that means they’re not comfortable; I’ve had to get comfortable being uncomfortable (and other cliches).
And you know, this principle of getting comfortable with being uncomfortable to get better is not only true in running, but true in our spiritual race as well. You see the Bible tells us that we are to “count it all joy” when (take note that the Bible didn’t say if) we fall (indicates we don't purposely enter) into various trials, because we know that the testing of our faith produces patience.
This patience, which is the ancient Greek word hupomone, does not describe a passive waiting as some might think but an active endurance. It isn’t so much the quality of forbearance that helps us sit quietly in the doctor’s waiting room, as it is the quality that helps us finish a marathon... the quality that allows us to endure intense pain and keep pressing on to the finish line in spite of it.
At its root, patience means to remain under. It has the picture of someone under a heavy load and choosing to stay there instead of trying to escape. The philosopher Philo called hupomone “the queen of virtues" and the Greek commentator Oesterley said this word patience describes “the frame of mind which endures.”
Unfortunately a person doesn't gain this virtue or frame of mind overnight though. The work of patient endurance comes slowly (taking years and sometimes even decades to grow), through all different kinds of tests and tribulations, and must be allowed to have full bloom so a person's character is spiritually mature and lacking in nothing to lead a godly life. In this way, trials prove to be a wonderful work in us, even if they don't feel pleasant at the time.
As someone who's undergone countless trials, I will tell you that none of them were particularly enjoyable (I honestly felt some of them would break me), but they were productive in building up my faith and critical in helping me grow closer to and more like Christ. And to say that my love for Him grew through the trials would be an understatement! For that, I wholeheartedly thank God every day for my past trials and have vowed to rejoice in my future ones (even if they aren't pleasant) knowing that God will use them for my good and for His glory in ways I may only understand in retrospect.
As you can see then, trials can prove a wonderful work of God in us. This was something Charles Spurgeon understood as well, leading him to write, "I have looked back to times of trial with a kind of longing, not to have them return, but to feel the strength of God as I have felt it then, to feel the power of faith, as I have felt it then, to hang upon God’s powerful arm as I hung upon it then, and to see God at work as I saw him then.”
So, get comfortable with being uncomfortable and consider it pure joy when (not if) you face trials my friend. They certainly won't feel pleasant at the time but what they produce in you will always be worth the pain.
Heavenly Father, thank You for reminding us that a believers trials are always used for good. Lord, help us to understand this especially when we don’t understand our situations, that we might patiently endure the tests and look to You for comfort and peace until the time of testing passes and we can look back and see the finished product. Help us to embrace trials knowing they make us more like You. It’s in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen.
Happy Running!
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