RUN!!!

Have any phrases that repeat themselves over and over in your mind? I have many. One that comes up a LOT is the line from the movie Forrest Gump which his friend Jenny says every time he’s in trouble. “Run, Forrest, Run!”

Often, when I think of running in the spiritual sense, I picture resisting evil or fleeing for cover or safety when I’m in trouble. Verses like these come to my mind:

“…they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31b

“…let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance…”  Hebrews 12:1b

In other words..."Run, Laura, Run!"
I’ve become a pretty strong runner spiritually, even though sometimes I sprint in the wrong direction, forcing the Lord to help me out of the woods. But lately, He's reminded me to race with a different end in mind.

My friends regularly get a chuckle out of the fact that I call myself a female David. “I’m Davidia,” I’ll joke with them. That could seem like I’m bragging, because after all David is known as the man “after God’s own heart.” But that’s not the part of David's character I'm referring to. I’m talking about his high highs and his low lows. I mean, is there anyone else in the Bible that expresses his gut feelings—praise ones or depressed ones—to the Lord so vulnerably and vehemently? When it’s praise time, the goin’ is good. But when it’s down in the dirt time, it ain’t so pretty. (Bear in mind, though, that David almost always praised the Lord even in the midst of his low moments…this is not a quality of his that I’ve mastered yet).

It’s no wonder I run to the Psalms whenever I need company with my mood swings. Sometimes, Depression surfaces from somewhere within me, and I know I need to run fast and hard from it. The Lord is teaching me, though, that it’s not really about what I’m running FROM, it’s about who I’m running TO. 

I’m not running from my depression, I’m running to the Maker of joy. 

I’m not running from temptation, I’m running to the God of righteousness. 

I’m not running from my own personal prison. I’m running to the One who set me free.

“I run in the path of Your commands, for You have set my heart free.” Psalm 119:32

"Run, Laura, Run!"
How about you? Are you running from or to?

At one point in the movie that I mentioned above, Jenny says something to Forrest as she is getting ready to hitch a ride away from him and her problems for the dozenth time. “Listen. you promise me something, okay?” she begs. “Just if you’re ever in trouble, don’t try to be brave. You just run, OK? Just run away.”

Amen, Jenny. I couldn’t agree more in the context of this message. It’s not about us being brave enough. It’s about Him being strong in our weakness, for “God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.” (1st Corinthians 1:25b) So, just run, okay?

Run to Righteousness. 

Run to Joy. 

Run to Forgiveness. 

Run to Truth. 

Run to Grace. 

Run to the Lord.

Run, Believer, Run!

“The name of the LORD is a strong tower; 

the righteous run to it and are safe.” 

Prov. 18:10

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All Scriptures are taken from the NIV unless otherwise noted.
Quotes from Forrest Gump were taken from imdb.com.