Rollercoasters

Rollercoasters.

What are they? The fastest two minutes of fear, screaming, and laughing that you can bargain for. Rollercoasters carry you through the ups and downs, the parts that you want to ride again and again, and sometimes, the parts you would rather never experience again.

Isn't life life like a roller-coaster?

This semester, people have asked me how running and life has been, and I have simply replied, a roller coaster. I have experienced lots of joy racing for the first time in 8 months, meeting some great new friends, being with family. But there also have been plenty of unforeseen stomach dropping moments on this ride, friends passing away, bad races, and tough times.

I never quite know what else life has in store for the next bend, but I'm often left left holding tightly onto what I have and hoping it will soon pass.

But this is what I've learned- forget the ride, follow Jesus.

Following Jesus to me is not being invested in the turnout of these mountains and valley experiences, but rather putting my identity and dependence in Christ.

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." -Hebrews 13:8

I think it's pretty cool that I trust in an unchanging God, while my world or circumstances around me change constantly at every moment in time. That is powerful. The very idea that we are subject to time while God isn't, forces us into continual change, second by second. We cannot hope in something that is temporal or dependent on ourselves.

My emotions and feelings are constantly riding a roller-coaster, but I'm learning how to not let the roller-coaster of life define me. When I have a bad race or even a good race, I'm not defined by that. I am defined by something much greater, a relationship with Christ! If Christ is what defines me, then I don't have to worry about my performance or the highs and lows of life.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away, behold, the new has come." -2nd Corinthians 5:17

As I go on the rest of the semester, my prayer is that we can put our hope, trust, and faith into a relationship with Christ that doesn't change or waver. I pray that this roller coaster of life would not define us, and that we would recognize how we are loved and made new in Christ!