Don't relax on the downhills!

When I ran cross country in high school, my strength was running uphill.  If we ran a course with hills, I would lean forward, push hard, and easily churn past struggling runners.  But the problem was, the weakest aspect of my running was the downhills!  I remember running the Mt. Sac Invitational, a course feared for some of the most hilly terrain in Southern California.  What I recall most is miserable dustiness of the first mile!.  There were parts of the course that even had nicknames ascribed to them, like the "Switchbacks" and "Poop Out Hill."  My final time running the race, I passed about 20 runners heading up "Reservoir Hill," the last hill before the finish.  Problem was, at least 10 of them ran past me on the downhill!

As I've been running up and down the roads and trails in Drewvale, I've had to maneuver plenty of hills.  Today during my run I thought about the downhills, how the temptation can be to take it easy.  It's tempting to relax on the downhills using gravity and not press forward with power from the legs.  When I push on the downhills I find I can run faster easier, and I arrive at my destination much faster.  I am able to cover more ground with less effort.  There's a spiritual application here, I thought to myself.  Maybe not the most profound spiritual truth, but a truth just the same.

Our daily schedules are often dictated by work and necessity.  If I need to be on the jobsite at 6:30am, I must get up early enough to pray, read the Word, brush my teeth, put on some clothes, and maybe eat breakfast.  Therefore I set my alarm for 5am.  But on Saturday when I'm not working, I forget the alarm and sleep until much later.  I have found that I must guard my evenings to have good mornings.  If I stay up until 1am, my morning devotional life with God suffers the next day.  When I don't wake up on a schedule, the day is well underway with the busyness of the home and family and spiritual matters are neglected.  We've all experienced this.  For me, times of vacation can be the worst for consistent times of devotion with God.  Because my schedule is not dictated, I stay up later, rise later, and miss time of fellowship with my heavenly Father.

I have now been in AUS for one month.  I have been one month without a schedule of when I need to rise and go to bed.  But I've been setting my alarm and trying to stay busy with prayer, personal devotion, this blog, and writing messages and studies.  Don't think that I'm a spiritual stud or anything, because I have certainly frittered time away with aimless conduct here and there.  But I am growing more sensitive to that wasted time.  It leaves me dissatisfied and more focused on doing better.

Right now I'm experiencing a downhill and my flesh wants to relax and take it easy.  "You won't be preaching for another two weeks...take a couple days off."  I could do that, and no one would know or likely care.  But I want to be further along in my spiritual progress when I reach the bottom of the next mountain that stands in my path.  I have found that it is easier to press a bit on the downhills than relying on gravity alone.  At least the same amount of physical effort and strain on my body is utilized in holding myself back than if I pressed the pace.

There was a brother a couple of years ago who was inspired by the Holy Spirit to say to me, "You're holding back."  And you know, I was.  The Spirit impressed upon my heart the exact area that I was holding back in.  I ask you:  are you holding back?  Are you taking it easy on the downhills, relaxing your spiritual guard, and taking it easy when the going is smooth?  That is when we need to press the pace!  We treasure weekends and vacations:  how about giving them to God as well as your weekdays?  Will not be this sacrifice rewarded with communion and blessing from the Father?  Cannot God gird up the loins of your mind and strengthen you in your times of devotion?

There is a story in the Old Testament when the prophet Elijah outruns King Ahab in his chariot.  Elijah and King Ahab were both on Mount Carmel.  There had been no rain in Israel for over three years.  Elijah knew that rain was coming and told Ahab to prepare his chariot and ride.  1 Kings 18:46 reads, "Then the hand of the Lord came upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel."  This reminds me of the question in Jeremiah 12:5:  "If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses?  And if in the land of peace, in which you trusted, they wearied you, then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan?"  We cannot contend with horses or footmen without the power of God.  We can't make it through a workday or weekend without His spiritual sustenance.  Our God is able to empower us to push it on the downhills.

Maybe you "need" a certain amount of sleep now.  Is not our God able to strengthen you to function on less?  Ask God to wake you up!  Elijah was a man who knew God intimately.  He prayed and God answered.  He prayed that it would not rain and it did not.  He prayed for fire from heaven and it fell, consuming the sacrifice on Carmel.  God strengthened him to outrun Ahab's chariot, and God ushered him into the heavens in a whirlwind with chariots and horses of fire!  We seem to realize we need God's strength on the uphills, but forget to rely upon Him during the downhill stretch.  We need Him just the same!  Let Him strengthen you to explore new territory!  No matter the rise or fall in elevation of your course, ask God to elevate your walk.