Fall 2009 Writings

The Slowest Race
A comparison of my spiritual life and triathlons

            Every summer when the days are longest, I start thinking about two things:  school and the Cohutta Springs triathlon.  Training for this race has become a tradition for me since I came to Southern, and the race in early October is the highlight of the experience.  Reflecting on my time in college, sometimes I feel like my relationship with this triathlon has been a lot like my relationship with God.

            Training every August has become routine. I always use the same training program:  exercise how I can, when I can.  Some days are more successful than others, but in the end, training is rewarding.  Inevitably, I get butterflies of excitement dancing around in my stomach a couple days before the race that make it harder to sleep. 

            At the first triathlon, in spite of a discouraging run and only an average race time, the overall experience was good enough to get me hooked.  Every year since then, I fall back into this same ritual every August, and every year the experience has gotten better. 

            My spiritual walk has been a lot like that.  I came to Southern and got into a predictable routine.  I would start the year with good intentions of getting to know and understand and love God better.  And there would be weeks where I felt like my communication with God was strong, and others when I felt unworthy to be called a Christian.  But even in those discouraging times, there was always a deep assurance that God was exactly who He said He was and that He never loved me any less.  I can’t always pinpoint exactly where God has grown me or what things He has revealed about Himself to me, but I know that I have grown closer to Him every year.             

            As for the triathlon, the race this past October (my senior year) will be a hard experience to beat:  perfect race weather, lots of friends, and even a personal record.  Although nothing significant had changed in my training regimen or the race itself over the years, I have realized that each time I’ve raced it has been more rewarding than the year before.

            God is good to me.  Even though my relationship with Him has been predictable and has had its ups and downs, He has never been unfaithful.  Graduating soon leaves me wondering what He will do with me in the future.  As I continue my walk, or run, with Him, I pray, in the words of David, that He will search me and know my heart and “lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139).  I know that with God, things will just keep getting better and better.