Run and Not Grow Weary

 Run and Not Grow Weary

Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint (Isaiah 40:31, NIV).

There is no failure for the faithful. Real faith does not grow weary.

When I was running marathons, I never cared about winning a race. The most important thing to me, the thing I was faithful to, and the thing that kept me injury-free year after year, was finishing the race in good health.

That’s the only thing that motivated me to keep on running, long after my strength had left me, long past the time when I was exhausted, and long after my muscle’s store of glycogen had been depleted.

I was focused on keeping my eye on the goal. The goal was always to finish the race. Remaining faithful to that goal has been the main motivating force of my life. Staying faithful and finishing the race.

Saint Paul the Apostle said it this way, in 2nd Timothy chapter 4, verse 7 (NIV): “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

The marathon is a race that is 26.2 miles in length, named in honor of Pheidippides, who was a Greek soldier and a messenger made famous for running from the Battle of Marathon to Athens in Greece. He completed the distance in order to announce to the officials in Athens that they had won the victory.

He, like Paul, finished the race and kept the faith. That was his task. To go the distance and announce the victory. To this task he was faithful to the very end.

Being faithful to God and family has been the motivating force in my life. When I was baptized at the age of eight, I promised to follow Jesus and be faithful to God throughout my entire life. When I married my wife 55 years ago, I promised to remain faithful to her for my entire life, no exceptions.

I grew up without a father. It was difficult for me at times, but my mother was the one who really made the sacrifice for us three boys. It wasn’t easy for her. I love and respect her for all she meant to me, may she rest in peace.

My mother was the one who taught me to be faithful to family and to God. I took her message and example to heart long ago, and I still do.

Since I didn’t have a father figure to show me how to be a good father, I learned from my father-in-law Orrice, who was always called “Bud.” We spent a lot of quality time together.

I remember the memorial service in Stewartsville, Missouri for my father-in-law Orrice McCord, a few days after his passing. He was a man of God and a faithful family man. Those were the two most important things in his life, and the things that motivated him throughout his 91 years. 

There were many friends and family who spoke at the memorial service, and at the close of the service, the pastor said these words from Matthew 25:21 (KJV), “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”

Everyone was silent. Everyone had tears in their eyes. I could never begin to match the love and devotion to God and family of that great man, Orrice McCord. He was indeed a faithful servant of our Lord Jesus Christ and a man of great integrity. I think of him each and every day. 

I look up to him as my real and spiritual father and mentor. He visits me often in my dreams. I know he is watching over me. May he rest in peace.

The last and final race of my life is the one I am running now. There are not many miles left for me to run. My goal is to finish the race, and hopefully to have those words spoken at my memorial service,

“Well done, thou good and faithful servant…enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”

I wanted to share this story because Bud was a man of God—a man of peace, and a faithful disciple of Jesus. He did not live his life in fear, but with the love and peace of Jesus Christ in his heart and mind. If everyone would be like that we would have peace, shalom, in all the world. That’s the way I want to live.

*excerpt from my book Look for the Beautiful, now at www.amazon.com

Gene Groner, author and biographer    geneallengroner@gmail.com