Run the Race Marked Out For You

The best thing about ultra marathon running is being out in the hills, traversing beautiful scenery, and taking in magnificent views. It’s hard to describe that liberation that comes with being alone in the wildness of God’s creation - free to explore, discover and adventure with the Lord. I mean, you can’t beat moments like this in Snowdonia:

But there is order behind the apparent self-determination of these moments. The race director has carefully established a set route with a fixed destination, and the rules require that you follow the path obediently. Straying from the course, going out of bounds, or attempting to take a short cut would result in time penalties or disqualification. Of course, you’re absolutely free to run in any direction we wish, but not if you want to be in the race. There are no prizes for going fast in the wrong direction. Instead, athletes run to race that is marked out for them (Heb 12).

Navigation is therefore a key skill for ultra athletes. Some races have way markers, signposts or flags to help you along the route, if you're lucky. More likely you’ll be expected to carry a map and compass (and have the skills to use them!) to ensure you stay on course. In reality, most people today use GPS watches with map capabilities, so all they have to do it stick to the pre-loaded race line and listen for the beeps to tell you you’ve gone off track.

Jesus said:

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:13-14

Jesus makes it clear that if we want to follow him, there are places we cannot go. There are areas that are out of bounds. There are roads we cannot explore. There are things we cannot do. Saying yes to Jesus means saying no to many, many other paths. Despite what we’re often tempted to think this isn’t because God wants to spoil our fun or limit our prospects. It’s because God knows that all other routes lead to destruction. When exploring a snow covered Fountains Fell, I came across the following sign:

There are a number of open mine shafts in this area. Please keep to the footpath

There are good reasons to stick to the established route! *

Conversely, Jesus tells us that the road that leads to life is narrow. Christianity isn’t a pick and mix faith were we have freedom to choose the flavour of discipleship that suits us best. There is one narrow road which we are to navigate if we wish to be in the race. That means Jesus has very specific expectations of our thoughts, our actions, our words, and the way we respond to our desires.

The good news is that Jesus himself is the gate (John 10:9) and the way (John 14:6), so the route we follow is not a mystery, it’s a person. Yet Jesus still tells us that “few find it”. Perhaps it’s because few are willing to be obedient to the rules he has established? How do we, then, ensure that we navigate this road well?

It’s not sexy. It’s not new. It’s not popular.

We navigate life through obedience to the commands of God as we find them in scripture. The Psalmist writes:

I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have set my heart on your laws. I hold fast to your statutes, Lord; do not let me be put to shame. I run in the path of your commands, for you have broadened my understanding. Psalm 119:30-32

The bible is the word of God, his revelation in which we find ultimate truth. Of course this requires interpretation, but God’s word is not subjective. In the bible we find objective truth that leads us along the narrow way of life.

The world is full of alternative navigational aids. There is one mantra which dominates our culture from Disney to Hollywood, from Instagram to YouTube, from politics to the pulpit. Its influence on our cultural morality is as pervasive as it is destructive.

“Be True to Yourself” The world

Be true to yourself is formulated in a myriad of ways: Follow your heart. You do you. Speak your own truth. If it makes you happy…

This notion assumes that the answers we are looking for are somewhere within us and that we are able to self-determine what is right and good. When I am true to myself, I fashion myself as the God of my own feeble creation. There could not be a less appropriate (or effective) way to navigate life. What makes us possibly think that we are well positioned to know what is true? How can we be so arrogant to assume that the mysteries of the universe our somehow hidden inside of ourselves?

You were not called by Christ that you might be true to yourself.

You were called by Christ that you might die to self and be obedient to Him.

Paul writes to his apprentice Timothy addressing these same questions:

For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 2 Tim 4:3-4

We are in a season where Paul’s words are being realised in the church. Sadly church institutions are willingly going off-piste to satisfy earthly desires. We must continue to be a people who are obedient to scripture, running the race that he has marked out for us, not a race of our own design. There’s no point running hard in the wrong the direction.

[It’s important to say that and hugely hopeful about the future of the church. It is Christ’s bride, and he is renewing it. Out of death comes new life and God’s kingdom is ever advancing. Take heart!]

The rubber hits the road when we stumble across bits of scripture that are really challenging. What do we do when God’s word doesn’t fit with our world view or our own preference of the way we want the world to be? Do we bend and flex what we read to suit our own desires and preferences, or do we allow the scriptures to bend and flex us so that we might be renewed and transformed into the likeness of Christ? Paul writes:

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:2

Are you reading it?

I want to gently encourage you back to the daily practice of bible reading. When we live each day in God’s word, we learn, like the Psalmist, to “run in the path of God’s commands”. His gentle correction and guidance is like the watch beep that keeps us on track. Through bible study we are also equipped with knowledge and wisdom for the road ahead. We become familiar with the twists and turns, the mountains and valleys before we encounter them. In this way, people of the word are not surprised or discouraged by the challenges and obstacles they face because they have seen them mapped out in scripture. They know their destination and they have been taught how to navigate the narrow path towards it. They discover in the process that God’s commands don’t limit freedom, but “broaden understanding”. When we run the race that is marked out for us, we are following the path that leads to life.

If you're way off course, there is good news. The life of faith is actually more like Mario Kart than an ultramarathon. If we go way off course, God in his grace will pick us up, dust us off, and place us back on the racing line. With Jesus, no tresspass is beyond redemption. Perhaps the best thing you could do today is ask the Lord to put you back on track and then commit afresh to run the race he has marked out for you.

*2 hours later I came back along this path in a whiteout and couldn’t see a thing! It was one of the scariest experiences of my life as I tried to get down off the tops without falling down a mineshaft!

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This post is part of a series of short blogs titled Faith Endurance, based on a sermon series preached at St Peter’s Morley in Spring 2024. If you enjoyed this, subscribe (above on the left) to get notifications each time a new blog is released.