Today starts a new series called Finish Strong.

Growing up, I wasn’t much of an athlete. I ran track because all my friends were on the team. I was so slow that on one particular long run, even my coaches packed up and went home by the time I finished the course. With this glimpse of my running background, you can imagine my surprise when God called me to run a marathon. 

Running a marathon sounds like a strange “call,” but in hindsight, God was teaching me several spiritual lessons by getting my attention through doing something bigger than anything I could do in my strength.

I have learned much about running since completing this race and several others. RPE (rate of perceived exertion) is what my coach used that day to get me in the right group so I could finish my race. We are all in a spiritual race. The best way to run with endurance in order to finish strong is to stay in tune with our spiritual RPE. In this scenario, RPE stands for Rejoice, Pray/Practice, and Embrace.

Philippians 4:4 says, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.” Notice it doesn’t say, “Rejoice when everything is going right, and you have no troubles.” If we want to run our race with endurance, it will require a heart posture that rejoices even when things are hard.

Process: Psalm 118:24, "This is the day the Lord has made I will rejoice and be glad in it."

Are you a rejoicer?

Challenge: Practice rejoicing at least once a day this week

Resource: There is a chapter about my running story in my book, Image Restored.  Go to imagerestoredbook.com to learn more and purchase a copy today.