Thoughts for the Soul

Run Church!

Breathless. Ecstatic. Alert. Serene. I am all of these and more this morning. All because I ran. Well, that is not quite right for I often run and feel none of these qualities afterward. I guess it was why I ran or how I ran or….maybe who ran with me. I was spending some time praying and seeking God in my office early this morning when all of a sudden I had to run. Truly, I had to run! I have never experienced any sensation quite like it. I felt like I would explode if I did not get out of the office and run. I thought that perhaps a brisk walk around the grounds would do but no, I had to run. I broke into a gentle jog but it was not enough, I had to run. And so, I ran as hard and as fast as I could and kept running around the grounds, up and down stairs, again and again. And it was good! I returned to prayer and study rejuvenated and more in love with God, more grateful for his lovingkindness, more assured of his provision, more open to his working outside the schedule I had planned for the day.

And maybe that last thing was what God was communicating to me, for I do believe the impulse, no the compulsion, to run was from him. For when I returned to my office I had a faint recollection of a verse out of the Song of Solomon. Here it is, “Draw me after you and let us run together! The king has brought me into his chambers. We will rejoice in you and be glad; we will extol your love more than wine.” The romantic woman in this verse is in love and desires to run, not walk, in the joy of growing intimacy with her lover. But she knows she is not capable unless he draws her alongside and is with her in the run. When he does draw her into the run toward intimacy the run becomes a veritable song of joy and gladness, and experience akin to being drunk with love.

Now here is the thin that excites me so. As I prayed this morning it was out of a residue of weariness, emptiness and discouragement over the fact that there were not enough hours in this particular week to get all the things done that needed to be done in the way I wanted them to be done. But as I sought God he drew me into the run with an object lesson or prophetic picture if you will. The message he had for me, and perhaps for many of you, is that the first thing to be seeking, the primary thing to “get done” every day is the run of intimacy with him. The hours in the week will remain the same. The projects that need finishing with an eye to quality will still be there. But when we run with God we will be left breathless, ecstatic, alert, serene and drunk with his love. This he desires for us all. His invitation is ever, “Come run with me!”

Running with you!

Pastor David