Recently I was talking to a friend about my oldest daughter and her boyfriend. They are both hugely enthusiastic about serving the Lord as their vocation and they both want to just get out there and do the thing. Rachel is willing to go anywhere and minister to anyone who'll listen. She witnessed to someone at the mall a couple of months ago, she felt led to talk to this person sitting in the food court, so she did. She wasn’t daunted or scared, she approached with boldness, of course, my petite teenager comes across as anything but threatening. The person was receptive to what she had to say that afternoon. She may not have seen this person come to to know Christ, but she definitely planted a seed that day.
I love my daughter's and her friend's energy, it makes me feel exhausted just watching them, but I know how easily that energy can begin to ebb, so it’s a challenge to guide them to find a balance without killing their enthusiasm. I just wish that in my own life I'd not held back as much as I did. Their view of life right now reminds me of a line from the movie Secretariat, "This is about life being ahead of you and you run at it" (as a parent I just need to be great jockey and know when to really give her some lead and when to rein things in because she’s still learning/training). Isaiah 30:21 says, "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it." I have a very active (over-active) imagination and someday I can just picture the Holy Spirit urging these kids with that gentle, but unwavering voice, “It's time, this is the way, now....GO FOR IT!" It will be a very exciting moment to see them running such a magnificent race.
I’ve been watching race footage of Secretariat and Man ‘O War (and not the movies, the actual horses).
When Secretariat won the race at Belmont Stakes in 1973, he won by 31 lengths, it was amazing to watch (catch it on YouTube). The jockey could have taken it easy when he saw that there wasn’t any threat to his winning the race, but instead he gave Secretariat his lead and he set a record. Paul urges us to fight the good fight, finish the race, keep the faith (2 Timothy 4:7, paraphrased). I want to urge my children, and even myself, towards the same goal, to not hold back, to run with perseverance the race marked out for us (Hebrews 12:1, paraphrased). When the race is over, did we have anything left? Or was it all poured out like a drink offering (Phil. 2:17; 2 Tim. 4:6)? Erma Bombeck wrote “When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me.”
Praying for all to run a good race!
Karla Butters
“They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31
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