I’ve always wanted to be good at running – you know, being out there with my fresh Nike flyknits and AirPods; completing my nomination challenge to run 5k for the NHS. But the reality is – I'm terrible at running.
Every year I say to myself – this year, this year will be the year you run your
first 10k... no, your first half marathon! And every year, I slide on my
running trainers, get the workout tunes blasting, and head out believing I’ll
make it round the park. Every year I get 5 minutes in, realise I can’t breathe
and my legs feel like metal; and decide to head home for pizza and Netflix
instead.
Now, a few of my friends know about my many
failed attempts at running. They also know that despite pretending like I’m not
actually that bothered – I do genuinely want to get better at it, and actually
feel pretty rubbish about how I don’t seem to get anywhere.
So, cue my first running intervention, or
in other words – the first time my friend forced me to go on a run WITH them.
That’s right – I had to get my running trainers on and display my embarrassing
running ability directly in front of someone else. Did they realise that I
actually wouldn’t be able to talk to them during the run because I wouldn’t be
able to breathe never mind say words?! Did they realise how humiliating it was
going to be to be seen next to the gasping tomato that would be me in just a few
minutes time?! Nevertheless – they came out with me, and 15 minutes later... I
was still running! They cheered me on, encouraged me to keep going, showed me
how to pace my breathing properly, and distracted me from how much it hurt with
incentives of chocolate when we got to the end. Six weeks later – I am now
running with friends twice a week, and have hit the 5k mark without stopping!
I am so thankful for friends that chose to go with me, and stick with me to cheer me on through my pained attempts at exercise!
Friends like these really remind me of a
character in the Bible called Ruth.
Ruth was a woman in the Old Testament who sadly
lost her husband, and instead of going back to her own family - chose to stick
with and support her mother-in-law, Naomi, through her grief.
Now Naomi had turned pretty sad and bitter
due to the loss of her sons, and her own husband too, and Ruth genuinely had
nothing to gain by choosing to stick with Naomi in this time. Naomi even tried
to send Ruth back home, but Ruth was having none of it – she gave this really
bold speech where she says:
‘Do not urge me to leave you or to return
from following you. For where you will go, I will go; and where you stay, I
will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I
will die!’
Ruth 1:16-17
Legit – what a hero. How incredible is this sign of friendship!
When Naomi wasn’t at her best – Ruth choose to go with her, to stick with her
during a really difficult time. Just like my friends choose to go with me, to
stick with me when I wasn’t at my best.
Now I don’t know about you, but Ruth’s story massively inspires me to want to be the best possible friend I can be, even if there’s nothing in it for myself!
Life in lock down can be tough. And that
means there might be lots of people who are not at their best, who may need a
good friend to go and stick by them, who may need a Ruth in their life. Could
you be that person?
Prayer
Challenge
Is there someone you can think of that
could do with a really good friend right now? How can you reach out to them to
champion and encourage them in this time?
Youth Ministry Staff, Trent Vineyard Church Nottingham
(Sarah and her team regularly deliver Acts of
Worship and the Alpha course at Bluecoat Wollaton)
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