March 12, 2009
This past week I was diagnosed with a stress fracture in my right foot. If you know me at all then you know that running is a huge part of my life and a huge part of my recovery. I have run twelve marathons in the past three years and have qualified for and ran the Boston Marathon every one of those years.
I was in the process of training for my fourth Boston Marathon this coming April when the injury occurred. I was in the best shape of my life, was running the fastest times I ever have and really gearing up for what I felt was going to be a big-time personal best at Boston. Now, I'm in a boot for four weeks, no running for at least six weeks and will not be going to Boston.
With all of my other injuries through the years I have always been able to tell when to back off my training. I've done pretty well with treating little nicks and pains before they have become big nicks and pains. But this one just wouldn't go away. It didn't matter how I treated it: ice, rest, massage, lots of motrin, etc, nothing worked. It just got worse and worse.
My maintenance for the injury was like putting a band-aid on a broken bone, it did nothing to heal it, it only covered up the injury. It relieved the pain a little bit and made me believe that it wasn't as bad as the evidence pointed to. It helped me look past the fact that it seemed to be getting worse and worse as the weeks went on.
You know where I'm going with this right? This is what we do!!!!!!!
We try to cover up the monumental hole in our lives with a huge band-aid. Sure, it makes it look better, but does nothing to change the fact that it's there.
Our band aid may be the right clothes, the right car or the right house. It may be hanging out with this group of "acceptable" friends instead of that group of "unacceptable" little people. The band-aid is escape through alcohol, drugs, RUNNING, sex, weight-loss, shopping, food, etc etc etc. You name it, we do it.
At some point we have to come to the realization that the gargantuan hole in our lives is a GOD SHAPED HOLE and nothing that we ever do will fill it up except for Him! The Father who created you to love Him, adore Him and worship Him. A Father who is just waiting for you to call His name.
Some of you who read this may not agree with a single thing that I'm saying. But, I believe that if you are truly honest with yourself you sometimes wonder what the heck else there is. You look around at your life, your goals, your dreams, your accomplishments and say "Is this it? Is this all there is in life?"
It's because we are a fractured, but not yet broken group of human beings. Like I did with my foot, we try to treat the injuries to our souls with anything that will make us feel better for just a fleeting moment.
And not until the moment that we put our faith in the Christ who was BROKEN on the cross, is the Christ who died for each of us, and the Christ who longs to live inside each of us.
I am not a Theology major. I cannot speak intelligently about many things that the Scriptures say.
What I do know is this, Christ changed my life. He came in and healed the injuries of my heart and soul. He took my FRACTURED life, BROKE it even more and then mended the wounds. And I know this as well, He can and will do the same thing for you.
I could go on and on about this subject so I'll just end with a quote from the movie The Shawshank Redemption.
"Get busy livin' or get busy dyin"