Today's Devotional

October 22, 2002

Subject:  Stop Running

Isaiah 30:15-16 - "For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength:  and ye would not, But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee:  and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift."

It's time again for the running of our physical fitness test which happens twice a year.  The test has three parts to it.  There are crunches, instead of sit-ups like it used to be.  Then there are pull-ups, and after that, a 3-mile run.  Because I hate running, I always liked a quote from one of my old bosses who shared my sentiments on this painful evolution.  He said, "well if we get into hand-to-hand, face-to-face combat with the enemy and the greatest asset in the guy fighting next to you is his speed and ability to run 3 miles, what do you think he's gonna do?"

In life it's quite easy for us to run away from our problems, but that doesn't get them solved.  Some run away from relationship problems by shopping.  Some people run from the pain of loneliness by eating or other addictive behaviors.  These are just a couple of the ways that we run from issues in our lives.  God desires that we stand up and face these and other problems in His power and His might.  As the verse above says, that's where our confidence lies, in Him.  It goes on to say that we tend to run away and therefore we continually run.  Although we believe that our swiftness is going to outdistance the problem or the issue that we're running from, the problem continues to pursue us just as swiftly.

Just like the guy in hand-to-hand combat, we might as well turn and fight.  However, in this fight, when we turn and "rest" in Him, we "shall be saved."

Today, stop running.  Return to the Holy One of Israel and rest.  

Carlen