Don't let failure talk you out of grace

​Since I began running, I've quit in the middle of 3 different races. Two of those races I've since gone back and got redemption - I started and finished them. The third one, if this Covid-19 situation cuts us runners a break - I'll go attempt to finish in September.

Here's the thing about races. When you line up for them, the race doesn't know if you quit the last time you ran it or if you were the race winner. It's not like you have to start in the back of the pack and wear a big ugly sign that says "loser" or "failure" if you didn't make it to the finish line your last race. The race is just excited to have you there running.

The race wants you to show up and show off what you've learned. The race doesn't want you to let a race you didn't finish before stand in the way of one that you can finish today.

That's life, really. And that's God.

I lived a large part of my life trying to perfect life. What life frequently reminds people trying to perfect life is you will always be a failure. Life is for living and learning, not perfecting.

God knew there would be people like me - people living life and screwing it completely up. God knew I'd be crawling in a dark hole completely focused on all the screw ups I'd collected and not the opportunity each of them offered me to be a better person.

That's why God is sort of like a race director. He says just keep signing up for my race. I have no idea where you finished this race last year, I just want you to run it again. God knows the worst thing that could happen in recruiting people to run his race is limiting it to only people who were good at running.

God knows the worst strategy he could have drawing people to live a full and fulfilling life is only inviting people to live it who are good at it. So he said, hey, all of you who are totally screwing this life thing up, I want you to forget the screw ups and wake up tomorrow and do better.

God says I don't want people who are perfect at life. I want people with hearts for being better at life.

After each race I quit I was afforded the unspoken question, are you a quitter or a runner.

And after each mistake I make in life, I'm afforded the very outspoken question from God, are you a failure or are you mine?