That’s the name of the excellent run I did for three miles yesterday. This life will try and get us down, but we have to keep reminding ourselves that we’re a part of God’s WINNING team. Heehaw! Despite the setbacks and challenges that want to get in our way, we can break through them or jump over them KNOWING we’re rolling with God and that there is never a moment where we lack His strength, wisdom, and guidance to tackle any and every situation:
“I look to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord. He is the Maker of heaven and earth. He won’t let your foot slip. He who watches over you won’t get tired.” Psalm 121:1-3
The devil won’t put us to shame; we’ll put the devil to shame! So, your girl here needed a little time out running to get back focused. It’s not about how many times we fall, it’s about how many times we rise back up being BETTER than we were before the falls. Rise and shine brighter, baby!
We have God’s spirit empowering us in every moment, and these runs are my alone times with Him where I go and get recharged. “… but the Lord stood with me and strengthened me.” It was a tough morning, and mentally, I was in a shallow place (life can do that to us sometimes!). But I threw on my sneakers, put on that I need A Win Run and I played a recorded Garnett Silk’s concert from 1994. My mood IMMEDIATELY changed when I heard these words from his song Splashing Dancing:
“O Father who art in Zion
Hear our voice, oh Jah today in our prayer
And accept our thanksgiving
Father, we thank you for all that you have done
And for what you are doing now
The Lord is I shepherd, I shall not want
He maketh me to lie in green pastures
He leadeth besides the still waters
He restoreth my soul, he restoreth my soul”
Nik, The Lord is your Shepherd, you shall not want!!! In other words, keep your focus on God because He is the supplier of ALL YOUR NEEDS, and He is taking WONDERFUL care of you despite the challenges. Your girl was HAPPY again!
Then, unbelievably right before sleeping, I heard my husband with our sons reading, and of the entire Bible I heard them say:
“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want
He maketh me to lie in green pastures”
I took this as a God wink at me because this message meant so much to me earlier that day. And after sharing the story with my daughter, Julie, we go for a 5K run together today and after asking the Nike Run app to shuffle my music library of 868 songs, look what song incredibly played FIRST:
“Father we thank you for all that you have done
And for what you are doing now
The Lord is I shepherd, I shall not want
He maketh me to lie in green pastures
He leadeth besides the still waters
He restoreth my soul, he restoreth my soul” – Splashing Dancing
So, minutes after telling Julie about how much this song meant to me yesterday, God made sure that it was the first song for me to hear on today’s run. Like He was saying, ‘Just in case you didn’t get the message yesterday, Nik, RELAX, I’m taking care of you.’
This life is DIFFICULT, and you can call all of this a coincident if you want, but this is the personality of God I’m getting to know. He finds these amazing and sweet ways to remind me of His constant Presence with me. “He maketh me to lie in green pastures.” No matter the troublesome situations I know my God is with me and that He loves me unconditionally. He’s teaching me to get my recognition from Him and to give Him all recognition.
#GODisreallyREAL
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