putting my shoes on

 

If you came over from Encouragement for Today, welcome. I’m really glad you came by.

I shared with you over a month ago that Richard had surgery for cancer. He’s been in the healing process and he’s done incredibly well.

This week he’s released to run again.

Since he’s still a bit bruised and sore, this means that I have half a chance of keeping up with him. ♥

In today’s devotion, I shared three rules every runner should know. I’ll keep these in mind as I run with my guy, but they are also important as you hold up your hurt to God.

Run at your own pace

Jesus sometimes touched people and they were instantly healed. Like the time he prayed for a guy who couldn’t walk. But another time He spit in the dust (eww) and made a mud pie and put it on a guy’s eyes, and then told him to go wash.

I’m not sure why one got an instant miracle or another had a series of steps to go through, but what I do know is that one walked and the other received his sight.

Don’t look at anyone else in the healing process.

Look only at Jesus.

Take the steps He asks you to take. Wait, when He says wait. It’s not about the timeline. It’s that He desires to heal you completely.

Watch your step

Alcohol doesn’t trip me up, but it’s a major bully in my family tree. So, I don’t go there.

Maybe a certain person or a certain place or a certain thing has caused you (or those you love) pain. Mark it with a red flag that says, “Minefield.” It’s blown up before and, even if it’s not a minefield for others, it’s where the enemy would like to draw you in.

You are a brave girl. You’re running after a life that says, “I’m free!”

So you go the other direction — the one God has mapped out for you.

If there are things that can potentially trip you up in the healing process, give less weight to them than the healing God desires to give you.

Just run

I don’t know if I’ll ever run for the fun of it. Richard does. Or at least he says that when he arrives on our doorstep, winded, red-faced, and sweaty.

He says that the first mile is always the hardest, so he just keeps going and eventually it kicks in. It becomes natural. It becomes a part of who he is.

Your run toward healing isn’t a race. It’s an adventure. So just run. See where God is taking you.

At some point, it starts to feel natural. It’s you! You recognize mile markers you have passed and the finish line doesn’t seem a million miles away. And even if it does seem far, the race is changing you and that’s worth running.

Suzie

 

studyI hope you are one of the thousands joining Proverbs 31 Ministries in their summer online Bible study over The Mended Heart: God’s Healing for Your Broken Places.

We’ll run together toward healing.

It’s gentle. It leads you to the things you don’t have to do, and then we walk through the things we can do with His help.

Will you be there? I hope you will and I’d love it if you’d tell at least one friend about the study. I cannot wait! Today, to celebrate this new study, I’m giving away one autographed copy to one of you. Simply leave a comment and I’ll choose a winner (through a random number generator) by Friday.  ~ Suzie