One day, I thought it would be hilarious to text my boyfriend Grant to see if he wanted to go on a run with me.
Unfortunately, he didn’t know I was kidding.
Next thing I know, I’m on Whirlpool Trails with no phone, no airflow to the lungs, no stamina, and no inspiration.
And then, sweet Grant says, “Liv, just keep running. There’s a taco truck at the end of the trail. I passed it on my way up here.”
TACO TRUCK?
Next thing you know, I’m actually moving. I’m heaving, of course, and I still don’t know that what I was doing even qualified as jogging. But I was actually getting somewhere. I had a reason to run. A prize to go for. A trophy smothered in cheese and sour cream with my name all over it. And here I am, about to break through the ribbon and leap over the finish line, and…
There's literally no taco truck.
If there’s a single story that sums up my life, this is it.
Isn’t that how many of us have felt lately? Sort of without hope? Feeling like there's not a lot of purpose behind our running?
Day after day, it seems that the world couldn’t get any worse.
Whether it’s an earthquake in Nepal, a terrorist attack in Paris, or a shooting in San Bernardino, bad news is everywhere.
And as we walk/jog/run each day, it’s harder and harder to see the tacos at the end of the tunnel. It’s difficult to cling to the unseen when all we see is trauma, tribulation, and terror.
But unlike the fleeing YoknapaTaco truck, our hope doesn’t have wheels and won’t take off. It’s a hope that won’t leave us out of breath.
Paul believed this, writing the following in Philippians 3:
“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”
What powerful words that were written over 2,000 years ago yet still apply today.
Because that’s the thing about Jesus Christ—He’s fixed.
He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever.
“For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” Romans 15:4
Jesus gave hope to Paul, and the same Jesus is beckoning you to receive this very hope.
He is cheering for you. He is for you and not against you. In an ever-changing world, Jesus wants you to cling to His never-failing promise. Jesus wants you to look past the trials and to look ahead to His taco truck of faithfulness.
So run like Paul. Run with a fixed and steady determination. Run wide-eyed at the hope that is to come— the hope that didn’t fail Paul then and won’t fail us now.
When you get out of breath, look to the One who gives you life. When you grow weary, seek true rest from your Creator. And when all you can think about is the beef soft taco with extra sour cream, trust in the Savior ahead of you on your spiritual trail.