Thoughts While Pounding the Pavement

I try to run several miles three to four times a week and once a year my wife and I have committed to run a marathon. I do this not because I enjoy running like so many I pass on the trail or see at the races. You know the ones who think Steve Prefontaine is the fourth person of the trinity and carry tasty granola snacks in their fanny packs. No, I am the guy running the race wearing a t-shirt that reads, I run so I can eat pizza and drink coke and have a doughnut every once in a while. Okay maybe I dont wear the shirt but that doesnt mean Im not thinking it. Please dont be too disappointed in my shallow motivations because I have another, more spiritual, reason for pounding pavement each week. You see for that one-hour or so I am completely alone to ponder and pray. I reflect on quiet times, sermons in preparation, biblical themes, and projects. I also pray about any of the aforementioned I have been thinking about along with some personal requests such as my being a godly husband and parent. I have found this discipline to be both physically and spiritually edifying and I would like to offer you four thoughts that captured my imagination for the better part of an hour during a night run this week.

The vastness of it all reminds me of my finiteness

Pounding pavement along my usual path I found myself captivated by the vastness of Gods creation. There is a certain part of my routine where for two miles I have a four lane busy road on one side and dense woods on the other. Above me is a seemingly infinite row of power lines coupled with streetlights that seem to go on and off for no apparent reason. Yet surrounded by the noise of traffic, the impeding view of power lines, and distortion of it all by pollution, I cant help but stare into the vastness of the cosmos and recall, Gods glory is on tour in the skies (Ps. 19:1). And the enormity of what He has created reminds me of His infiniteness, which in turn reminds me of my finiteness. This brings me to another thought

My finiteness reminds me of my self-worth

I matter to God. He has put eternity, a desire for something infinite, in my heart (Eccl. 3:11) and as such I experience a longing that can only be satisfied in Jesus. It may sound a bit weird but though I am so finite here on earth I have heavenly and infinite value to God. So I jog and sweat my way down the sidewalk a speck in the corner of the universe and yet He knows every hair on my head (Matt. 10:30). And this brings me to another thought

My self-worth reminds me of Gods sufficiency

The value of this self-worth can only be understood and actualized in depending on Gods sufficiency. My dependency upon Him should result in a holy desperation that keeps me at the feet of Jesus. The greatest example of this is Gods love for us, we love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). Interpretation: I am only enabled to love God because He has taken the initiative to love me; His love for me enables me to love Him. And this brings about a final thought

Gods sufficiency reminds me of His glory

That night as the first stars began to punch holes in the darkness I found myself back where I had started: Gods glory. Godyoure my God! I cant get enough of you! Ive worked up such hunger and thirst for God, traveling across dry and weary deserts. So here I am in the place of worship, eyes open, drinking in your strength and glory. (Ps. 63: 1-2) So yes, there is a part of me that runs so I can eat pizza and cookies every once in a while, but this is not what captivates me. Above the craziness and chaos of speeding cars, endless power lines and moody streetlights God still captures the imagination of a speck on a dot in a solar system of dots in the corner of the universe.

Written by Brent Crowe(Follow Brent on Twitter)

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