Sunday morning I had what you might call an “Ugh run.”
For those of you unfamiliar with what I’m referring to, an “Ugh run” (I think I created this term) is a run in which you are going so much slower than you’d like that you look down at your watch and say, “Ugh.” Sunday’s run came in 35 seconds per mile slower than a time I ran about a month and a half ago on the same 3.3-mile route. I know this because I find a strange joy in tracking my workout regimen with nerdish precision.
Now, I was tempted to be a little depressed about the slow time, but I consoled myself with this thought: A few years ago, when my wattage output was somewhere between that of a two-toed sloth and that of an amoeba, I would have been really stoked with the time I ran on Sunday. It was slow relative to the times I have been running recently, but it was very fast relative to the times of years gone by.
Here’s a bit of Monday encouragement. You may look at your spiritual life and not be all that pleased with where you are right now, but I’ll bet that if you have been seeking to follow Jesus for a while, you’ve made a lot of progress over the long run. Consider the faithfulness of God in your life just as Psalm 136 calls attention to the faithfulness of God toward the people of Israel. Consider not only the sins you committed yesterday, but the maturity God has worked in you over the years.
And above all, keep running.
—Beau Stanley
(AUTHOR’S NOTE: Thanks to Dr. Glenn McElhinney for insights that led to this post.)
