It's All About You

In my former life, I was a triathlete. The training and competition became my obsession as I used it as a "healthy" escape from a toxic marriage. Following God's timely rescue of me, I had committed to no longer competing, partially due to the fact that I understood that it had become an addiction. Nevertheless, I still maintained a fit lifestyle and enjoyed the benefits of running and cycling. It helped to forge new relationships and I found encouragement through fellow believers that had been through similar circumstances. Then, the opportunity came for me to compete in Florida Ironman 70.3; a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride, and 13.1 mile run - the long distances I used to train for. 

For the first time in my life, I said that I would only compete if it wasn't about me. We prayed about it, talked about it, and decided to use the race as a way to raise funds and awareness for the church we were planting. We raised some great funds for our church, thanks to our generous donors, but God had more surprises for me than I realized. 

Romans 8:28 "And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those that are called according to His purpose."

In training for this race, I was forced to spend hours each week alone on my bike or in my running shoes since my needs were focused on greater distances than the people I normally trained with. At least there were other people at the pool. Through the training, God reminded me of how important that fellowship is with other believers and the longing to be with them trumped any chance of going back to this kind of training regiment full time again. 

As He ordained it, my former boss, a man who is more courageous than anyone I know and who once called me his friend and brother, was also competing. He is also the man that I betrayed above all others when I let sin rule my life. Honestly, I feared seeing him. If he had punched me in the face, he would have been justified. As it is, when I finally saw him passing the opposite direction on the run course, he held out his hand to me on the way by. I could have stopped and cried right there in my spandex among 1800 other athletes by this simple act of acceptance. I finished ahead of him, and when I heard his name called over the loudspeaker, was able to meet him at the finish line and deliver the face to face apology that had been way too long in coming. 

It's incredible to think that when we make our lives about us, He humbles us to remind us of who He is. Yet, when we humble ourselves before Him, He reminds of how much we really are worth to Him. I look at the way He reminded me of the importance of fellowship and the relief that comes from humbly reaching out to someone I've wronged, and I can come to no other conclusion that when I chose to make this event all about Him, He chose to make sure that I knew He was still all about me.