Russell Media - Laurie

Have you ever run in a road race and the finish line is just up ahead? Doesn’t it seem like an eternity away?

Boise hosts a handful of road races for kids. Our kids love these events and make sure we sign them up every year. Their favorite is a 1-mile race held near the end of school. There are over 1,000 kids that participate in this spirited event.

Last year Mark and I placed ourselves a few hundred yards before the finish line. Usually the race runs one gender at a time and divides the kids into age groups – with the older kids going first in order to prevent overly ambitious14-year-olds from running over an absent-minded 6-year-old.

It was near the end of the boys run and Mark had taken off to find our son Noah who had already crossed the finish. I remained in our spot, awaiting the start of the girls. As I looked down the road I saw a little boy who had yet to finish. He was now walking. His face was red and his eyes were full of tears. He was coming in last place.

His father saw him and quickly ran out to the street to join him and finish the race with him. He encouraged his son; trying to get him to run again but the little boy wanted none of it. He squealed at his dad – he was embarrassed and didn’t want to run.

All the other parents on the sideline saw what was going on. As the boy approached us, the mom next to me began cheering, “Keep going! You’re about to finish 1 mile!”

The rest of us joined in with her and the cheering the began to spread down the line. The little boy looked to the crowd, realizing that we were all cheering for him. The defeated look on his face turned into determination and he sprinted to the finished and ended his race strong.

It’s amazing how our outlook can change when we have the encouragement of others. Our mountains become mole hills and what once seemed impossible becomes possible.

We are all going to have times when the finish line is like a mirage in the desert and want to give up. But – if we surround ourselves with  positive people who will sincerely cheer us on to finish the race that God has set before us – we’ll finished determined, not defeated.

There is a time to run and there is a time to cheer. It’s tempting to hog the spotlight but we need to be sure that we’re also spectators for others as they accomplish their goals. I’m not speaking of flattery but authentic words of encouragement.

The road can be rough and we’re not meant to go it alone.

Cheers my friends!

Has there been a time when the encouraging words of others helped you through a rough patch?

The other day a friend gave me one of those cool insulated water bottles. On the bottle was a sticker that gave the number of disposable plastic bottles that would be saved by using this reusable water bottle. (I never realized that plastic bottles were in need of being saved but perhaps that is another post.)

The sticker got me thinking – we really are a disposable society. We like to use something a few times and then throw it away. It’s much easier and faster. There is no need to clean it, store it or to take care of it. When we’re done with it or tired of it, we can toss it and replace it.

In many ways it feels as if this disposable mentality has infiltrated other areas of our lives. It has moved beyond the items we use in our external lives and has attacked us in the way we many of us see our self-worth.

Not long ago I read an article on some beautiful women of our generation and how they are battling the effects of aging. One woman shared about one of her husbands, “When I aged and my beauty left, he disposed of me for a perkier wife.”

Her words really struck me. She saw herself as something that could be disposed. My heart broke when I read these words. Her worth was found in her beauty and after it had served its purpose, it was time for her to be replaced with a newer version that didn’t need to be “cleaned up.”

Self-worth is something that we all define differently. Some find it in appearance, others in a job, position or financial status. Many slave in front of the mirror to be the one that turns heads as they walk into a room. Others spend endless hours at the office in order to earn power and prestige. If they can work their way up the ladder then no one can ever look down upon them.

But what happens with the ladder slips and they come tumbling down with it? What do you do when the mirror no longer reflects your image in an attractive way? Are we meant to be disposed and tossed aside?

In I Samuel 16:7b we read, “The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

Time intensifies the beauty of a heart that’s chasing after God the same way struggle and failure will strengthen a heart that leans on God for support and rest.

If God’s eyes are focused on our hearts, shouldn’t this be where we find our self-worth?

Satan knows this and works in ways to harden our hearts. He then chisels away at it with his lies and false accusations, shrinking it down to nothing. It is then we are often tempted to find our self-worth in how we look, what we do or how much we own.

God did not create us as disposable creature. Our worth is found in Him and we are His, a prized possession. We may not be perfect, we may need cleaning but we’re never to be thrown away.

When you look in the mirror may you see the beauty of the heart.

Do you struggle with self-worth?

Have you’ve felt disposable in life?