Sacrifice Echoes Into Eternity

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those crushed in spirit.

Psalm 34: 18

Ours is not a culture that is comfortable with sadness. Sadness is awkward. It is unsettling. It ebbs and flows and takes its own shape. It beckons to be shared. It comes out in tears, and we don’t quite know what to do with those.

Nancy Guthrie

It was in the early spring when my daughter started training for her first ever marathon (the Chicago Marathon) and I was watching her get up early to run “short runs” of six or seven miles a day and then “long runs” which increased weekly until she made it to seventeen miles one Saturday evening.

A couple of times, I rode my bike alongside her on these longer runs (which we clocked in at over two hours). I peddled easily along as my daughter pushed herself one step at a time (in pain most of those steps). Clearly, she was investing a whole lot more than I was during those two hours.

As I accompanied her, I thought about my running days way back when…why I loved running (how you feel like a million bucks after about 1 1/2 miles) and why I eventually quit (I got tired of finding running partners only to have them quit on me a few months later).

Sacrifice Is Always Worth The Cost

So for me, watching my daughter set a goal of running 26.2 miles (in one run) was amazing to me. Inside, I was cheering her on through every single run she went on.

She endured rain, wind, heat, humidity, potholes, hills and valleys, exhaustion, sickness, pain, pain, and more pain (as knee injuries stopped her in her tracks for over a month).

When it looked like she was finally able to resume running another obstacle hit hard. A friend died. The decision to run or not with her injury was no longer, “Will my body be able to handle running this distance?” It defaulted to a more important choice, sacrificing her hard-earned goal in favor of staying put and supporting her friend’s family.

I was never so proud of my daughter than when she told me it wasn’t even a hard decision to make. She knew she had to set aside her own dream for the sake of supporting someone she loved. I don’t think she realized it, but she had already won her race without even stepping foot on the Chicago race line. To my mind, she chose the best road to travel by stepping up to the moment and choosing to “walk” alongside her friend’s family during a time of great sorrow for them.

Choosing To Let Go Of A Dream

She sacrificed every day for months to reach a dream she eventually decided wasn’t as valuable as being there for someone who needed her. Her dream might not have worked out as she’d sacrificed and hoped for…but I believe God worked through her to fulfill an even greater accomplishment as she submitted her plans to His bigger one. He always does.

Ever heard that old song with the catchy lyric, “Dream a little dream with me?” I wonder a lot about making grand plans, pursuing bold dreams, and going after what God has placed upon my heart to accomplish. I believe hope and dreams are the stuff of life. God created us to create. The more we use those gifts, the happier we are because in those lovely creative moments, we resemble our Creator. And I believe God smiles down on us.

Winning Looks Different Than We Might Expect

Which begs me to consider what God desires of us when in the madcap pursuit of those same dreams obstacles enter our lives that force to us to choose between them. Stop signs halt us from every direction and we’re left with a job unfinished, a goal unreached, or a heart undone and broken with sadness. It seems to me that God wants us to exhibit the same zeal we put forth toward reaching our dreams as in the relinquishing of them. The more I recognize God’s absolute right to ownership over me and my dreams, the more comfort I draw knowing He orders my days for His glory and my very best.

Some Christians are known for saying, sometimes rather glibly I might add, the phrase, “Lord willing.” While I agree with that statement 100% percent, I have to ask myself how often I pray the prayer that never fails, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” and really mean it? Because if I truly believe that statement then I’m saying God knows more than I do about the path I should take and He has the right to move me into a different direction even if it’s mere seconds before I see my dream come to fruition. This willing submission is at the heart of my love for God. His will. His way. Always the right way.