Sometimes You Have To Push Through

I didn’t feel like it. It was one of those restless nights I didn’t sleep well. But my alarm went off at 6a this morning to get up and go running. After all, I’m in the late stages of Marathon training so every run is crucial. But I was dead tired. It was still dark outside. My legs were sore. I didn’t feel like it.

I ran anyway.

For some reason, I skipped breakfast. Normally, a small bowl of oatmeal gets me through a good workout, but I skipped it this morning. My schedule today was full, so I decided to just get into my running clothes and get going. 

Half-way into the first mile I was regretting it. “I just ran nineteen miles five days ago and nine two days ago, but now I’m having trouble making it to one!” I thought. I wanted to quit. I wanted to walk. After all, this one is a mid-week run…I could skip this one…or maybe just take it easy. I felt like I was running against a wall.

I pushed through.

As I made a turn, a woman about my age came onto the sidewalk shortly behind me, running at a brisk pace, and all I could think was, “You can't let a middle age woman pass you!” So instead of slowing down, I stepped it up.

I’ve learned that we almost always have more in the tank than what we lead ourselves to believe. My pace increased, but my body kept telling me to stop…or at least slow down. But I kept at the faster pace…and that woman never passed me. "Yeeha! I can at least beat one girl!"

Actually, I finished this morning’s run faster than any run this year or last. (I only have two years of running to go by.) I averaged a full minute faster than my fastest times. On a day I should’ve been slower. On a morning I almost quit.

Sometimes you just have to push through.

Some days at work you want to scream at your coworkers and storm out, right? Some days you want to tell your kids to find another mom, right? Sometimes you want to throw in the towel and kiss your wife good-by…for good. Right? Some ministry weekends you want to make it your last.

And that’s when you have to push through.

You can do more than you think. You have more in the tank than you realize. And you have energy available that you will only learn is there when you decide to put your head down, kick life into the next gear, and push through. You’re never a failure until you quit. And the worst time to ever quit at anything is when you feel like it! 

So get back at it! Whatever it is. Get back on. Go back to work. Reignite your marriage. Resurrect your quiet time. Get back to church. Recommit to serving.

Push through.

“Let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.” –Galatians 6:9 (NLT)