It's almost midnight and I just got home after a wonderful graduation celebration. On my way home, I drove past a high school that was still lit up with hundreds of lights. It wasn't a football game or a concert--it was something called Relay for Life, a fundraising event for the American Cancer Society. The grandstand was lit up with hundreds of bags that had candles placed in them--together, the bags spelled out "Hope" and "Cure." Glowing bags (called luminaries) lined the track around the football field--each one representing someone who had cancer or is currently fighting the disease.
Tonight there were people still walking around the track around midnight, working together in teams to complete a relay for a cause they care about deeply. I've attended Relay for Life before and remembered seeing cancer patients and survivors among the participants...walking or running around the track. How do they find the strength?
When I saw the Relay for Life tonight, it reminded me of this excerpt from today's passage:
God doesn't come and go.
God lasts.
He's Creator of all you can see or imagine.
He doesn't get tired out, doesn't pause to catch his breath.
And he knows everything, inside and out.
He energizes those who get tired,
gives fresh strength to dropouts.
For even young people tire and drop out,
young folk in their prime stumble and fall.
But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.
They spread their wings and soar like eagles,
They run and don't get tired,
they walk and don't lag behind.
You and I may not be participating in the Relay for Life to benefit the American Cancer Society...but we are in another kind of Relay for Life. We are running a race, living our everyday lives on this planet. We have picked up batons from others--our parents, mentors and/or spiritual "family." And someday, we will pass along those batons to our children or to people we mentor throughout our life-long relay.
Do we get tired--physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually? YES! But God is always there to help. He's our stable friend, encouraging coach and energizing cheerleader along the way. He recharges us and fills us up--with strength, wisdom, love and endurance to get through.
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