A few years ago, after hearing a teaching on 1 Corinthians 9 about running the race set before us, I had a beautiful encounter with God that changed my life forever!

At the end of that message, I asked the Lord: Am I running my own race? 

I had expected a resounding: Yes. But what He answered surprised me.

When I asked the Lord if I was running my own race, what I heard Him say was: No.

And the picture He gave me was of a race marked out. And I was on it. Running…yet not running. More like jogging. Almost in place. Looking here. Looking there. Looking for someone to notice me. Someone to validate me. Someone to tell me what to do.

And He said, No, Sandy, you’re not actually running your own race. You’re actually looking for someone else to run your race for you.

Woah! His words stopped me short. But that encounter, that picture and word from the Lord directly to me, began a much-needed change in my life. A change in my heart. A change in my mind. A change in my belief system that has changed everything for me and all those around me!

You see without that encounter. Without that direct word from the Lord to me, I would have continued on doing what I was doing, believing what I was believing, and waiting for someone else to do what God had, in fact, called me to do!

And so I’m so thankful for God’s “no” to me that day. It wasn’t harsh. And it wasn’t mean.

It was just exactly what I needed. So gracious. So loving. So Him!

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run [their very best to win], but only one receives the prize? Run [your race] in such a way that you may seize the prize and make it yours!  1 Corinthians 9:24 AMP

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who by faith have testified to the truth of God’s absolute faithfulness], stripping off every unnecessary weight and the sin which so easily and cleverly entangles us, let us run with endurance and active persistence the race that is set before us, [looking away from all that will distract us and] focusing our eyes on Jesus, who is the Author and Perfecter of faith. Hebrews 12:1 AMP