After many days of lethargy, self-excuses, and downright bad behaviour, I returned to the road. Ok, it wasn't a road in the real sense of the word but rather a series of grassy paths and dusty trails peppered with rocky inclines.
I like the challenge of off-road running 🏃♂️. It makes me feel like Rambo. Do you know Rambo? Of course,
you don't, you millennial.
Well, Rambo was our action-hero. A grotesquely muscular man with dark, curly hair. His hair though, was a little too long for a man. Anyway, he would stalk, strategize, and then blast his enemies into oblivion with huge guns.
Later in life, I realized that he was probably a product of American propaganda against their perceived geopolitical threats, mostly the Russians. Rambo was always sweating, and I noted with a certain level of satisfaction that I too was sweating. There was no jungle that Rambo couldn't conquer and running in the less-trodden paths makes me feel like Rambo.
I like to run in familiar places, but the call of adventure often gets the better of me. Many times I find myself in unfamiliar places with no idea how to get home. And as a result, I often go further than I had intended to. Yesterday was no exception.
My run was meant to be 7km. It was supposed to help me improve on my previous speed. However, I took a turn that set me on a new path. As darkness settled in, the worsening visibility made it even more difficult than I had pictured. I made a mental note to be extra careful to avoid falls. "You really ought to take Jesus' wise words a
little more seriously" I thought to myself.
Jesus said, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.” John 11:9-10
With aching ankles and a burning chest, I plodded on. I could barely see my next step as I huffed and puffed up a seemingly unending incline. I ran another 2 km without a single soul in sight. Only luck could save me now.
When I finally spotted someone walking in the darkness, I was so excited that I forgot my caution. In an instant, I stumbled, lost my footing, and fell. The man turned around to offer his sympathies. The right knee had a graze and my palms stung like hell. I had fallen on a thorny patch.
Aware that the running app was still counting
and recalling the 'WWR-DO' maxim, I picked myself up quickly and continued
along the dark but increasingly familiar incline.
By the time I limped home, the blood had dried, and my wife had called three times. But then Rambo would never be bothered by a grazed knee. Neither would he ever stop to pick up calls from his wife. ‘Wadau’ can you remember if he ever had a wife?
Now, I don't need to tell you how painfully embarrassing a fall in public is. Apart from the real risk of injury, it seriously bruises the ego. It is also incredibly discouraging if you are running (or cycling).
The Bible talks about another kind of stumbling fall. Mostly about moral and relational failures. It prophesied that temptations will increase exponentially towards the end as the fight between good and evil intensifies.
If you have failed in ways that you thought were only the preserve of others, then know that you were likely caught up in the ever-intensifying cosmic battle for the souls of men.
As things stand, it is vitally important that you pick yourself up and continue the good race. My mother used to say that life is a marathon and not a 100-meter dash.
To fall and stay down is to disappoint those who love you and want the best for you. To stay down is to discourage those who privately esteem you and quietly look up to you. Worse, you invite God's displeasure. Why turn around and embrace the very things that you were taught to hate?
If you have stumbled and fallen, pick yourself up, nurse your injuries briefly, and seek the help of trusted friends. Determine to push on. Surprisingly, this is the character of growth.
Forget the cancel culture. King David is our prime example of a man who stumbled and fell countless times and yet was able to pick himself up and pursue God in total humility. In the end, he was called (of all things), 'the man after God's own heart'. There is no need to give up now. Stick with the righteous side. In this battle be determined to stay within the prophecy of Daniel.
Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified, and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time.
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