As I was preparing for a long-awaited day of writing, I spent a little time culling through old scraps of paper I’d long ago filed away for “future use.”  My plan (as if my plan really matters in the God-scheme of things) was to follow the “running the good race” theme and post today on the struggle to find our pace.

I pulled out a few bits and bites of writing to save for later posts, then was about to put the file away when a full-size printed sheet in the mess of hand-written scraps caught my eye.  The tags, handwritten at the top, read: Fit, Race, Run, Persevere.

I remembered, in that divine flash of insight that comes when God opens our eyes to the unseen, sitting at the computer several years ago, despairing about my weight and my inability to simply gut it up and get my workout over with, searching Bible Gateway for something, anything, to motivate me.

Here’s what I found, that day:

• You’ve all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You’re after one that’s gold eternally. I don’t know about you, but I’m running hard for the finish line. I’m giving it everything I’ve got. No sloppy living for me! I’m staying alert and in top condition. I’m not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself.  1 Corinthians 9:24-27, MSG

• May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable.  If he said it, he’ll do it!  1 Thessalonians 5;22-24, MSG

• Discipline in a Long-Distance Race.  Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!  Hebrews 12:1-3, MSG

• We pray that our God will make you fit for what he’s called you to be, pray that he’ll fill your good ideas and acts of faith with his own energy to that it all amounts to something. 2 Thessalonians 1:11, MSG

• Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.’  1 Timothy 4:15-17, NIV

• Exercise daily in God—no spiritual flabbiness, please! Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever.  You can count on this.  Take it to heart.  1 Timothy 4:7-9, MSG

• So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For, “In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.” Hebrews 10:35-37, NIV

It never ceases to amaze me—to truly floor me—when an act done years ago for personal intention comes back around years later with Divine Intention for that exact, solitary moment in time.

I could go on about the message of pace, of fitness, of perseverance.  But I will not.  I will allow God to speak for himself.

A word spoken years ago.

A word spoken centuries ago.

A word for this moment.