Cemetery Run

I went running this morning. For those of you who know me well, that's weird. I hate running. But this morning as I set out to a park to just get out and think, I found myself running. If anyone would have seen me they probably would have laughed because I wasn't necessarily dressed for it. I was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt.

I was running because sitting wouldn't suffice. Last night I had a lot on my mind, and while lying on my floor starring at the ceiling and letting the lyrics-less music describe my emotions was perfect for last night there was just too much "energy" this morning for me to just sit again. 

The path I was running on led to a cemetery. I slowed down to a walk. It just seemed disrespectful to run for some reason. The squirrels didn't seem to have the same courtesy. 

As I passed by the different tombstones, I thought of the many legacies represented. Some lives had seen war, some had seen the first cars roll down the streets, and some just ended recently. 

I continued to stroll pass these stones representing life, when another thought struck me, what if I continually lived as though I believed God IS who He says He is? 

There have been different losses in my life in the last year and last night was one of those nights where for whatever reason it hit hard; hence letting Olafur Arnolds and Rhian Sheehan describe what I couldn’t at the time. The irony of ending up in a cemetery this morning on my run, both things out of the ordinary for me, has only now struck me. 

So what if I believed God is who He says He is? Then He is in control. There is a plan and nothing can thwart that. Then all the pain is there as an opportunity to grow, mature, and lean on Him. Then He is my comforter. Then He loves me deeply and pursues me. Then He wants the best for me…so those friends that are no longer in my life are not in my life for the best. 

Someday my fate will be the same as those I passed this morning but what will be the legacy that I leave behind? One that lived in utter faith in Jesus, in God… or will life be so overwhelming that I stop believing He is who He says He is. I’m not trying to be trite with pain and the other atrocities that plague our lives but there is a Comforter, there is One who knows the pain of losing His only Son, there is One who has the best plan in mind for you even if you can’t understand or see it now. But will you, will I, believe it? This doesn’t mean we have to be all peachy all the time but even in the hardest seasons there is truth to cling to (Revelation 21; Phil 1:6).

Learn this lesson well my friend, there’s a time to rejoice and lament. Every season will find an end. All will fade and be made new again. 

[Josh Garrels]