I wish I was talking about the physical activity of running. Because goodness knows I wish I was good at that versus the running I'm referring to.
Nope, I mean running from God. I'm a runner. I see God do these amazing things and work in crazy awesome ways. And then I get scared. I take my eyes off of Him. And I run. Not necessarily fast running. More like a turtle pace which is really my actual real life running pace. Turtle speed. But none the less I run.
And here is where Hosea comes in. This book of the Bible is brutal. I started out reading each chapter judging God's people in thier God-doubting, idol-worshipping, back-sliding ways. I thought I was above that. At the end of each chapter, I felt the overwhelming conviction that my name could just as easily be read in place of Ephraim and so on. I doubt. I have idols. I have tried to run.
Why did I run? I was scared. Scared of what God may have me do next. Coming off a season of such huge growth in my relationship with the Lord and such intense clarity and direction, I took that leap of faith. I followed God on this unexpected journey down to NOLA. I was obedient, so I can coast for a little while, right? Never. Before I knew it, I was doing the expected. Only what is expected of me. I was/am doing the bare minimum. Which led me into a state of fear. What if God asks me to do something else frightening? What if I can't do it? What if it's hard?
So, I ran.
But the beauty is in the return.
I'm done running. It's not worth it.
I want to return and run with endurance the race set out before me.
I'm a runner.
But it's time to run in the direction of my God. The only running I'm gonna be doing is closer to Jesus.
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This blog post is a part of #SheSharesTruth with SheReadsTruth.com.
Check out other blog posts about Hosea and what the other women in the SRT community learned through this study here.