Get used to it.

This morning before the sun decided to join us, I was out for my 6 mile run. Start at my house, down to the gas station, back up to the house, then continue up the junction then back down to my house. Nothing out of the ordinary. Really this morning was nothing out of the ordinary at all. It was so early that my muscles, like the sun, decided not to join me on the run either. I was slow and every step felt unnatural. But for that early and with only a chocolate chip cookie in me (hey I see you rolling your eyes!) it wasn't surprising.

Something else that wasn't surprising, pain. It really doesn't matter if it is 1 mile, 12 miles or I am guessing 26 miles, there is pain. My legs ache and beg me to stop. My lungs hate me for pouring the cold morning air into them. By the end of my run, my arms cry out to put them down, after an hour of keeping them at a 90 degree angle. And the worst part about that is, if you put them down even for 2 seconds the blood flows through them so fast you regret every thought of putting them down.

Pain, it stalks you. It knows where you are, when you run, how far you have left and how fast you want to be going. It picks at you and never lets you just run. What is different now then when I first began to run is how to deal with this unrelentless stalker. Rarely does the stalker cause me to walk or cry anymore. No longer does the stalker ever actually stop me from running again, like it has in the past. Pain is my running stalker whether I like it or not.

If you replace satan with pain you would have a story of the Christian faith. I don't like talking about him or even thinking about him. He doesn't deserve or will get that glory. However, realizing he is there, stalking, you can rely on the one who does and will get the glory, Jesus. When you put your faith in Jesus, He will teach you the tools is deal with him: prayer, patience, what spiritual warfare is and above all, endurance.

What's possible with stalkers in your life? Everything when you decide to run the race called life with Jesus.

I want everything, not just somethings.